International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

“A Review on the Psychological Reactions after a Presidential Election”

Almyrah Almudin, Mary Gacrama, Paulo Natividad, Miko Miguel, Charlene Mae Sulit, Mary Rachelle Wapano
Xavier University and Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Philippines

Abstract: This paper is a review of the psychological reactions of young adults to any presidential turnout from 2006-2022. The studies generally revealed the occurrence of numerous psychological reactions and coping strategies after the election turnout. The existing literature is scarce in explaining the psychological reactions among voters, their coping strategies after the loss of their preferred candidate, their sense of fulfillment and life satisfaction after the victory of their preferred candidates, as well as their interpersonal and social relationships among family and friends. This review of literature then attempts to capture from existing studies the positive and negative psychological reactions of young adults following a Presidential election turnout and their coping reactions to the loss of their preferred candidates, and the possible impact on their well-being, their sense of fulfillment, and the sense of satisfaction when their preferred candidates won the election cycle. The review shows that voters of the losing candidate show signs of stress among other factors from the result of the elections with those who have maladaptive coping mechanisms showing higher overall levels; voters of winning candidates show signs of elation.
Keywords: psychological reactions, young adults, Presidential election, coping strategy, well-being, voters
This review is an attempt to document and explore the varying experiences and psychological reactions both positive and negative, of young Filipinos after the Presidential election. Journal articles, online published research, online news articles and studies that focused on the psychological reactions, coping mechanisms and strategies of young adults from different parts of the world and their experiences both positive and negative, brought by the election cycle were reviewed. The findings from these various articles were then summarized and synthesized to provide some discussion of the psychological reactions and experiences of young voters on a Presidential election result.
For context, in the most recent Presidential election held in the Philippines, young Filipinos had become expressive towards their desire to support or object to certain political aspirants, and their preferences influenced a large portion of the total votes garnered by a certain political aspirant. This year’s Presidential election has been observed as a heated discourse among Filipinos, particularly among the young Filipinos, who expressed that that 62-per cent of the respondents will surely vote in the 2022 elections, 75-percent agreed that the coming elections will be clean and safe, and 86-percent said they can make a change in society by voting.
After the election results turnout, based from the researcher’s observance some young Filipinos have expressed regret for the loss of their preferred candidate, while others were evidently elated that their candidate won the major election cycle. Those whose preferred candidate was defeated, expressed that they experienced some psychological reactions