Live Poster Session: Zoom Link
Abstract: Politics are an essential part of every country’s identity, as the legislations of government play a crucial role in shaping national values, factions, and culture. Yet the importance of politics varies vastly from citizen to citizen; some members of a country are attuned to every political action and moment, while others are more individualistic and choose to direct their attention primarily to their day-to-day lives. This study examined how big of a role current events play in the happiness of the everyday American – specifically, was there a connection between well-being and opinion of American politics? The goals of this present included 1) establishing the relationship between personal life satisfaction and satisfaction with the politics of the United States and 2) examining how this relationship differs by political party. Analysis showed a significant and positive relationship between well-being and opinion of American politics, with political party moderating this relationship; the connection was strongest for Independents, second-strongest for Republicans, and weakest for Democrats. These findings may provide valuable information regarding the role of politics in everyday American life, and future research is needed to substantiate this analysis while further investigating the level of engagement Americans have with their government.
Teddy-Benchley-QAC-201-Poster