10/04/2024

How Campaigns Use Psychology To Get Out The Vote

A hand sticking a brain into a poll box
Photo collage by Emma Gometz

We’re one month away from the presidential election. The campaigns are in high gear,  trying to get their messages out, and hoping that those messages will be enough to motivate voters to both go to the polls—and to vote in their favor. 

But just how solid are people’s political opinions at this point? Can anyone be swayed at this point by another debate, campaign ad, or stump speech talking point? And how do campaigns judge the mood of the electorate to better position their messages? 

Dr. Jon Krosnick, director of the Political Psychology Research Group at Stanford University, joins Ira Flatow to talk about political decision-making, the ways campaigns can influence voters, the effectiveness of polling, and what researchers know about how people make and hold opinions.


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Segment Transcript

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As Science Friday’s director and senior producer, Charles Bergquist channels the chaos of a live production studio into something sounding like a radio program. Favorite topics include planetary sciences, chemistry, materials, and shiny things with blinking lights.

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Ira Flatow is the host and executive producer of Science FridayHis green thumb has revived many an office plant at death’s door.

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