New Study Claims Democrats Over-Reported Stress After the 2016 Election
“in part to show support for their fellow Democrats”
If you remember the insanity that unfolded on American college campuses, you might dispute the findings of this study.
The College Fix reports:
Study claims Democrats ‘over-reported’ mental stress following 2016 election
Remember studies like this one which showed some 25 percent of those surveyed reported “clinically significant” stress levels due to Donald Trump’s election?
That “clinically significant” part meant the equivalent of witnessing a school shooting … which is PTSD-level territory. The lead researcher of that study attributed such sky-high stress levels to Trump’s “divisive tone” on race and identity during the campaign.
Now, a new study from a Stanford PhD candidate and a trio of Microsoft analysts shows that many over-reported their psychological anguish over The Donald’s election, specifically that “most Democrats partook in ‘reverse’ cheerleading, or over reporting negative sentiments, in part to show support for their fellow Democrats.”
“Our research suggests that for many Democrats, expressing mental distress after the election was a form of partisan cheerleading,” the researchers wrote.
Via EurekAlert!:
Reviewing more than 1 million online searches from before and after the election and comparing them with public surveys, the researchers explored the relationship between survey results (a public expression of feelings) and search results (a private exploration). They found a complicated relationship between what people claimed publicly to care about and how they engaged with these same issues privately.
[Democrats’ behavior] is in comparison to Republicans, who not only did not report a significant increase in stress after the 2016 election, but also did not report an increase in stress after Obama’s election in 2008.
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Comments
I don’t discount the study. Reporting “stress” has become a new form of wolf cry for attention and throwing a quiet tantrum.
This may only be a function of a freaked out media. After Obama’s election the media was convinced the second coming had occurred and reported accordingly. After 2016, the media (and DC culture) was convinced the world was coming to an end and spent weeks crying about it.
As a conservative I do believe we are better balanced, if only because we are sceptical of all news. Conversely, my experience leads me to believe liberals tend to believe the claims of the media, so they felt a pressure conservatives did not feel.
I think conservatives, as Cgosys points out, take a more practical view of things. The liberals appear to be in a constant Chicken Little state where everything is “the sky s falling!”. It would be interesting to see the stats on how many people who track conservative have standing appointments with therapists compared to how many liberals do.
It could be that the ultimate “good world” the liberals envision cannot naturally occur, it has to be forced and supplanted with rules and laws to keep people from doing what comes naturally. Ao when a law is passed that thwarts this they go off… because if people see the truth they will abandon what the libs have tried to create. So we get hundreds, replete with signs and face paint, on the SCOTUS front porch when a law is passed in Alabama.
I am constantly reminded of the passage in P J O’Rourke’s book “Parliament of Whores” where while driving with a friend observe a moderate demonstration. He comments something like “when the left is aggrieved you get hundreds at a demonstration, but when the right is upset you get a couple of Young Republicans in suits and ties with a single sign between them?”; his friend replies, “We have jobs.”
I did not feel stress after Obama because I am self-reliant. Annoyed, sure, but not stressed. Beside, I had a Dillon 550 to sit in front of to relax. Or as we call it, Blackjack where every pull of the handle is a win. Those who were stressed after Trump was elected were more likely a part of the parasitic class, and thus were legitimately threatened as they envisioned the teat being pulled away.
It reminds me of a Bertrand Russell quote that a coworker had above his desk.
“I once saw a photograph of a large herd of wild elephants in Central Africa seeing an airplane for the first time, and all in state of wild collective terror… As, however, there were no journalists among them, the terror died down when the airplane was out of sight.”
He called it about 100 years ago.
Reminds of the Wells Fargo commercial of Lulu and Lobo and the “Woo Woo” monster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0KANXj4-UE