Whether you feel in control of your own life actually depends a lot on whether your political party is winning or losing.
March 26, 2026
Original Paper
Electing to Take Control: Political Identification and Personal Control
PsyArXiv · eadgn_v1
The Takeaway
While we think of 'personal control' as an internal trait, this study shows it is deeply tied to group identity. When your political 'team' suffers a surprise loss, your psychological sense of agency over your own private life actually drops.
From the abstract
Engaging in the political process is one way that individuals can exert control over society in general. Yet, emerging research suggests that engaging with political groups also helps people feel more in control of the course of their own lives. The present research examined whether this is always the case, using the natural experiment afforded by political events to probe the psychological mechanisms underpinning the relationship between group identification and personal control. Two cross-sect