Hope, fear and anger were each linked to more non-voting political activity among Black women in at least one of three areas: race relations, personal finances or the election, according to findings from surveys conducted in 2016 and 2020.
The research drew on responses from 2,141 non-Hispanic Black women in 2016 and 2,228 in 2020. The researchers examined emotional responses alongside activities such as signing petitions, donating, protesting, volunteering and contacting public officials.
The link depended on the issue and the activity
Hope about race relations was associated with more high-cost political activity. In this study, that category included actions requiring more time, money or direct involvement, such as donating, volunteering, attending a protest or campaign event, and contacting an elected official.
Hope about personal finances or the election was not linked to the reported activity measures.
Fear about race relations was associated with more low-cost activity, including signing petitions and boycotting. Fear about the election was associated with more high-cost activity.
Anger about race relations and the election was associated with more low-cost activity, while anger about personal finances was associated with more high-cost activity. The researchers said these findings challenge the idea that anger alone explains Black women’s political involvement.
What counted as political activity?
Low-cost activities included signing a petition, discussing politics online, wearing a campaign button or displaying a sign, and boycotting a company or product. High-cost activities included working or volunteering for a campaign, attending a campaign event or protest, donating money and contacting a public official.
In 2020, signing a petition was the most commonly reported activity, at 39%. Working or volunteering for a campaign was the least common, at about 7%.
Voting was not included in the analysis. The activity lists also did not include service and civic organizations such as the National Council of Negro Women, The Links or historically Black sororities.
Important limits on the findings
The 2020 survey measured emotions about race relations and personal economic circumstances. The 2016 survey measured emotions about the election. Because the topics were measured in different years and among different respondents, the researchers could not compare all three emotional contexts within the same women or establish whether the patterns extend beyond those periods.
The surveys captured feelings and political activity at one point in time. They therefore show associations, not whether a particular emotion caused someone to become politically active. Emotions and activities were also self-reported.
The researchers analyzed 1,589 women in each 2020 model and 1,364 women in each 2016 model. The models considered the three emotions together and adjusted for factors including age, education, income, employment, marriage, parenthood, birthplace, political ideology, political interest, community involvement, religiosity, region and trust in government.
Social capital had the largest reported association with political activity across the models. Political interest and more liberal ideology were also consistently associated with more activity.
Why the framing matters
The study measured feelings about public life, not mental health, and did not claim that Black women share an inherent emotional makeup. Its results instead suggest that the relationship between emotion and civic action can vary according to both the issue people are considering and the effort required by the activity.
The source also notes an inconsistency concerning election-related anger: its discussion reportedly describes both fear and anger as linked to high-cost activity, while the results table shows only fear. That discrepancy is another reason to interpret the findings cautiously.
AI tools were used to assist with the preparation of this article.
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