“No Matter What We Do, Nothing Is Enough”: A Qualitative Investigation of Political Despair

Abstract

People often report experiencing despair about social issues like racial inequality and climate change. We conceptualise these feelings as political despair and consider: what causes political despair, that is, what are the antecedent appraisals? Participants, who felt despair about racial inequality (N = 196) or climate change (N = 179), responded to a prompt about why they feel despair about this issue. A framework analysis of participants responses, guided by appraisal theories of emotion, identified two broad themes (appraisals): perceptions that the issue is unjust and systemic (illegitimate) as well as being uncontrollable and unchanging (intractable). These themes (appraisals), consisting of nuanced sub-themes, explained political despair. The study suggests that political despair may be conceptualised as a discrete emotion with specific appraisals and a core relational theme of unchangeable systemic injustice. Understanding political despair is important given its prevalence among supporters of climate justice and racial equality, and its implications for well-being and political engagement.