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Published on: July 19, 2017
Is political anxiety different than general anxiety?
Aaron Weinschenk1, Kevin Smith2
1Department of Political Science (and Psychology), University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI, USA.
Abstract:
Recently, there has been growing interest in the concept of political anxiety. One important question that remains unanswered is whether political anxiety is just a symptom of general anxiety-that those reporting anxiety tied to politics are the same individuals who would already score highly on measures of general anxiety. Using survey data collected in 2023 (N = 436), we find that measures of political and generalized anxiety do not appear to be tapping into a single underlying construct. In addition, the systematic correlates of these measures identified by previous literature are not equivalent predictors of the different types of anxiety. Politics seems to be a source of apprehensiveness and worry that affects individuals who are not necessarily suffering from general anxiety.
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