Gluttons for Punishment? The Appetitive Effects of Anxiety on Attention to Politics & Anxiety-Inducing Effects of Political Interest.

Many Americans report that following politics and current events is a source of stress in their lives. Studying political attentiveness as a source of stress is important not only because it may lead to negative mental health outcomes, but because it may undermine the health of our democracy; e.g., by discouraging Americans from participating in electoral politics. While past research has linked higher attentiveness to political news with elevated anxiety, considerably less work considers the possibility that the relationship may be mutually reinforcing (i.e., that anxiety can also motivate attention to politics). Fewer still consider the differences in absolute magnitude of the appetitive effects of anxiety on attention, and vice versa. In this study, I analyze data from a publicly-available 26-wave longitudinal survey of N = 552 US adults to study how attention to politics might lead people to experience anxiety, and how the experience of anxiety might motivate attention to politics. I document mutually reinforcing effects of attention and anxiety, and provide suggestive evidence that the anxiety-inducing effects of attention to politics may be larger than the appetitive effects of anxiety. I conclude by discussing the political and health-related implications of these findings and directions for future research.