Down But Not Yet Out: Depression, Political Efficacy, and Voting

Bernardi, Luca ORCID: 0000-0001-5875-9990, Mattila, Mikko, Papageorgiou, Achillefs and Rapeli, Lauri (2023) Down But Not Yet Out: Depression, Political Efficacy, and Voting POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, 44 (2). pp. 217-233. ISSN 0162-895X, 1467-9221

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Abstract

Depression is one of the most common health problems in the developed world. Previous research has primarily investigated the relationship between depression and voting, largely overlooking its cognitive foundations. We turn to political efficacy as a key political attitude and precondition for political engagement. We build on research into the cognitive aspects of depression to construct arguments linking depression, political efficacy, and voting. Using cross-sectional (European Social Survey) and longitudinal (U.K. Household Longitudinal Study) data, we find evidence for a negative relationship between depression and political efficacy, that depression reduces external but not necessarily internal political efficacy, and for an accumulation effect of depression on (external) political efficacy. We also show that political efficacy is a crucial mechanism for the depression–voting gap. Our research has important implications for political representation.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	depression, health, political efficacy, political behavior, voting
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	23 Nov 2021 08:03
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 11:23
DOI:	10.1111/pops.12837
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3143683
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