The Role of Election-Related Coping Mechanisms on Sociopolitical Stress Throughout the 2024 US Presidential Election
Cooper Klassen
Department of Psychology
Faculty Supervisor: Melissa Hagan
Sociopolitical stress associated with divisive elections has been shown to lead to poor mental health. However, certain coping efforts may effectively combat these negative effects. Coping mechanisms that are associated with cognitive changes, such as reappraisal or self-distancing, are associated with lower negative affect in the political context (Sgambati et al., 2026). The current study evaluates the effects of election-related coping efforts on changes in sociopolitical stress across three months spanning the 2024 US Presidential Election. Young adults (n = 363; Mean age 21.5; 69% women; 87% with minoritized ethnoracial identities) attending a minority-serving public university completed measures of election-related coping and sociopolitical stress monthly from October to December 2024. Preliminary analyses suggest that sociopolitical stress increased across waves for everyone. In addition, higher baseline active coping was associated with a steeper increase in sociopolitical stress across the three months, whereas avoidant coping was not associated with overall level or change in sociopolitical stress.