Do Republicans live longer everywhere? Using survey and digital data to study cultural variation in the partisanship-mortality link
Type
conference lecture
Date Issued
2024-09
Author(s)
Abstract
Political partisanship is a crucial part of human identity that unfolds far-reaching consequences upon the individual. Recent evidence from the U.S. suggests that these consequences may even pertain to mortality. Specifically, studies found that Republicans live longer than Democrats. We here suggest that these longevity benefits are not universal but culturally varying. Specifically, we hypothesize that Republicans’ longevity benefits occur in Republican, but not in Democratic states. We tested this argument in two studies. In preregistered Study 1, we used survey data that is linked to mortality registers (extended U.S. General Social Survey; N= 42,855). In confirmatory Study 2, we replicated this survey-based approach using novel digital data (biographies of deceased U.S. partisans web-scraped from an online-cemetery; N= 9,177). Applying survival analytical techniques, we found in both studies that Republicans` longevity benefits were culturally specific with substantial effect sizes. To illustrate, in Republican contexts up to 50.1% of all Republicans but only 36.3% of all Democrats reached an age of 80 years. In Democratic contexts, by contrast, there was no such longevity gap. The combination of survey and digital data allowed for diverse robustness tests showing that this effect generalizes to political ideology, holds across spatial levels, but is limited to persons with strong political convictions. In sum, our findings challenge the role of Republican partisanship as a universal provider of health benefits. More broadly, our study showcases how traditional survey data and novel digital data can provide complementary strengths and weaknesses, allowing for more robust and nuanced conclusions.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Event Title
53. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie
Event Location
Vienna, Austria
Subject(s)