Two for You — take two minutes to live and lead with intention
Episode 4.20
There are so many reasons to vote. Now add improving your well-being to that list. Voting can:
- Confirm your engagement in your community
- Increase your feeling of belonging
- Strengthen your sense of identity
- Lessen your self-concept distress
Resources
- Dive into Chapter 3 of the World Happiness Report: Happiness and Voting Behavior.
- Check out University of Wisconsin’s article Healthy democracy: How voting impacts well-being.
Transcript
Note: Two for You written transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before referencing content in print.
[Denise] Hello and welcome to Two For You. Today we're talking about voting. Voting. Woo woo. It's, it's on everyone's mind, or it should be, is what we're trying to say. Because research has shown that when you have higher life satisfaction, you're more apt to vote.
Its actually gets a little bit more specific and says, for every 1% of life satisfaction increase, you increase your propensity to vote by 2%. Life satisfaction. Voting direct correlation. However, research has also shown that there's a really, a tight relationship between voting and your well-being.
[Lori] Yeah. Right. So not only life satisfaction, but your well-being increases when you actually do the act of voting, Right? So why is that? So when you actively vote you, you increase your engagement because you're engaging in civic life. And so it's showing that you care about your communities, You just feel that in yourself. Or when you vote, you have a greater sense of connection and belonging, which we know are some of the greatest factors for well-being.
And when you vote, you increase your emotional well-being and see if maybe you increase some of your meaning in life by showing that you're a role model or feeling you're a role model for your kids or people in your community.
And lastly, you avoid that sense of doom and gloom, self concept distress, which is that whole should've. Right, I should've voted and I didn't. So instead, when you get out to vote, right, you can increase your sense of accomplishment because you did do it and you get that little I Voted sticker, which is awesome.
[Denise] It is. So vote. We encourage you to vote not only for your personal well-being, but as a community leader, also for your community. Be that person to step up no matter what your political sway is. But make your voice heard, increase your well-being as you live and lead with intention.