Divided we stand, united we worry: Predictors of worry in anticipation of a political election

Across two studies, we examined predictors of voters’ worry about the outcome of a political election, thus testing the application of the uncertainty navigation model to political waiting periods. Using a theoretically-grounded set of predictors, we assessed voters who preferred either the Democrats or Republicans to control the House of Representatives following the 2018 U.S. midterm election (N = 376) and Trump and Clinton voters leading up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election (N = 669). Findings generally supported the predictions of the model, such that people worried more as Election Day approached, as did people who saw the election outcome as more important, who believed it was more likely their preferred candidate would lose (Study 2), and who had a set of worry-exacerbating traits. Taken together, the findings provide considerable insight into the dynamics of worry during stressful waiting periods and support the generalizability of the uncertainty navigation model to political contexts.