by Inara Jain

What makes up one’s identity? A big part of someone’s identity is their values, morals, and beliefs. What someone values and lives by mirrors the decisions they make in their lives. In an election, voters make decisions based on whichever candidate’s platform resonates most with their identity. Chair of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, Scott Huettel, “think[s] that treating identity as something that competes with policy helps explain why voters often select candidates whose policies go against their interests.” It is found that often, what benefits a voter’s identity may contradict their personal preferences. This is because people often identify with certain demographics or groups of people, and they tend to follow the candidate that will do the most for the group they identify with over the candidate that best helps their personal beliefs. When voting, people will consider their social identity: their self-image and how others see them. Factors that voters consider that go hand-in-hand with their identity is the decision to vote in the first place, their identity and demographic (instead of policy issues that benefit them), and which party they are loyal to.

Both deciding to vote or making the decision not to vote carries a strong sense of identity with it. For example, the effect an individual’s vote will have on the outcome of the election is minimal due to the electoral college. However, individuals decide to vote not because they believe that will have a material effect on the outcome of the election, but because the act of voting signals something to their community and reinforces their identity. A theory called, “expressive voting,” states that people do not vote to pursue the betterment of the country, but to solely express their preference over the outcome, similar to cheering on a sports team. Voters who follow this theory are more motivated to vote based on their identity than what policy may be of interest to them. An example of voting through identity is evident when Bernie Sanders’s supporters had difficulty shifting their vote to Hillary Clinton after she became the Democratic nominee in 2016. People showed difficulty sacrificing their identification with Sanders, and some chose not to vote because of this, even when they knew Clinton was closer to their personal interests than Trump. The decision to vote or not to vote carries a strong sense of identity with it, proving how much identity plays a role in voting.

An example that shows the importance of identity in an election, is the Brexit election. When voting for England to leave the European Union, of those who identified as “British,” 40 percent decided to withdraw. Of those who identified as “English,” 70 percent decided to withdraw. In that election, identity played a massive and extremely important role. The vote to leave the European Union was seen as a patriotic or nationalist move. This is why a majority of those who identified with England and as “English” voted to leave the European Union. Out of those who felt as though their loyalty belonged to England, a majority of them decided to leave the European Union. Those who identified as “British,” felt as though they were more of European or global citizens than they were “English,” so they decided to vote to stay. In many instances, voters will find themselves considering their identity over which policy benefits their individual livelihoods demonstrating how important identity is in an election.

Finally, a part of identity that has an instrumental impact on the way an individual votes, is their loyalty to their party. Recently, there has been a rise in relentless partisanship, but positions on policy issues have stayed the same. Voters are often drawn to political parties based on their social identity rather than the policies that are put forward. This emphasizes the fact that identity would be weakened by the real policy differences of the major political parties. When voters are exposed to questions on policy, it is found that they often don’t vote in line with their affiliated party. Identity has a tremendous role in voting, and many times individuals vote in favor of their identity instead of policy issues. 

Voting is an extension of identity. Many factors go into a vote, but a major one is identity. Identity dictates the decision whether to vote or not, identity is often considered over policy, and in a decision between two parties, identity sways a voter to choose which party matches that of their identification.