The idea of Trump’s re-election triggers “disgust” and “relief” in almost equal measure, according to a poll of American voters.
The study found that only 36 percent of American voters would positively evaluate a victory by Donald Trump in the November presidential election, compared to 50 percent if Joe Biden won.
The unconventional survey, conducted by NayaDaya, YouGov and Statista, examined voters’ emotions and expectations of the two candidates. The pollsters asked voters how they would feel if one of the two candidates were elected president.
The results show that the most common emotion the respondents expressed towards a Trump re-election was “disgust”, which in this case was defined as “unpleasant things or immoral actions”.
On the other hand, the most frequently chosen emotion for a Biden victory was “relief” – defined as “solving unpleasant or dangerous situations or tackling problems”.
For Trump, the second and third most commonly chosen emotions were “relief” and “fear” – the latter meaning the potential to cause “uncontrollable threats, dangers and worries”.
For Biden, the second most frequently chosen emotion among voters was “no emotion”, suggesting that his choice was “insignificant” to these people and would “cause nothing”. This election was followed by “fear”.
Overall, the survey found that eight out of ten U.S. voters were emotionally either on the trump or on Biden’s side – meaning that they expressed emotions that favor one candidate over another.
The remaining fifth of voters are not emotionally attached to a candidate who expresses positive, negative or no emotions for either candidate. The pollsters say that this part of the electorate could still be influenced by the way in which they vote.
There are slight regional differences in the emotional reaction to the election of one of the two candidates. For example, 55 percent of voters in the Northeast expressed positive emotions for a Biden victory, but only 32 percent for a Trump victory.
Trump scored better in the South, with 41 percent of respondents saying they would feel positive about a Trump victory in November. But even here Biden was more positive, with 47 percent of voters expressing positive feelings for a victory for the Democratic candidate.
The survey was conducted using online polls conducted between September 2 and 4 and October 16 and 19 this year. The results showed that voters’ emotions and expectations did not change significantly during the final phase of the election campaign.
“Although much has happened over the past month, the feelings and attitudes of Americans toward the possible results of the current presidential election have changed little. Trump would need something emotionally remarkable to change the course of the election in his favor,” said Timo Järvinen, CEO of NayaDaya, in a statement.
“However, we should keep in mind that according to our studies, there are millions of voters who so far have no emotional preference between the two candidates – surprises are still possible.
The September and October polls each included more than 1,250 people selected from panels representative of the entire U.S. population in terms of age, gender and geographic location.
