“There Was Blood Coming Out of Her Eyes . . .”: Emotional-Affective Agenda Setting and Disgust in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Abstract

This study tracks the affective agendas in the media’s portrayals of the nonverbal behavior of the 2016 presidential candidates, and then shows how these media portrayals are related to voters’ emotional valence. It also gauges the relationship of disgust to voting intention, comparing it with anger, fear, hope, and pride, as well as other established demographic predictors and party affiliation. Findings show that valence-based emotions as conveyed via candidates’ nonverbal behaviors are associated with viewers’ emotional valence; that is, emotional-affective agenda setting has occurred. It also demonstrates that disgust predicts vote choice as well or better than anger and fear.