Cognitive Dissonance, Elections, and Religion

How do elections affect citizens? This paper shows that elections can have an impact in an area where researchers least expect it: an individual’s religious life. It does so by drawing on psychologists’ theory of compensatory control and testing whether individuals’ reported religious behaviors and beliefs fluctuate with their chosen political party’s fortunes. Both an originally collected panel data set and over-time cross-sectional data reveal that Democrats (Republicans) are more likely to report attending religious services and praying when Republicans (Democrats) control the White House. Rates of reported religious behaviors then decline when a copartisan is president. The results demonstrate political identities’ strength and ability to influence nonpolitical behaviors, even those thought to be stable and impervious to politics.