Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs
Open Access

The Roslyn Social Science Research Department, Roslyn High School, Roslyn, United States

Publications

• Research Article   
  Why We Vote: How Positive Descriptive Norms and Holding a Minority Political Viewpoint Increase Citizens
  Author(s): Han Byur (Hailee) Youn* and Allyson Weseley
  
  Analyses of voter turnout rates in the United States have established that nearly half of eligible American voters consistently choose not to participate in elections. This trend of low voter turnout is predicted to continue and poses an impending threat to our democracy. The present study investigated the effect of descriptive norms and holding a minority or majority viewpoint on citizens intention to vote and perceived responsibility to vote. Two hundred eightythree citizens were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk to participate in a survey created through Qualtrics. Participants were shown a flyer encouraging their participation in an upcoming gubernatorial election and were randomly assigned to a version that described expected turnout (large, average and small) and percentage of registered Democrats (30%, 70%, or information omitted). Positive descriptive norms, which indic.. View More»
  

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