Stress research: voting campaigns can trigger stress among minorities

Voting campaign can cause stress among minorities Keystone-SDA

A referendum campaign, such as the one on 'marriage for all,' can trigger stress in those affected and their allies, according to researchers at the University of Zurich. Their study showed that participants released more stress hormones during the referendum campaign.

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The researchers investigated how the 2021 “marriage for all” campaign affected the stress levels of queer people and their sympathisers by using hair samples. They surveyed several hundred people about their stress levels before, during and after the campaign and collected hair samples to measure stress hormone levels.

Increased cortisol and cortisone levels

The results revealed that respondents released significantly more cortisol and cortisone during the campaign. This increase was observed not only in the queer participants but also in their friends and family. The researchers concluded that political campaigns against the rights of LGBTIQ people can heighten feelings of discrimination, rejection and alienation from mainstream society among those affected.

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Supportive words mitigate stress

Interestingly, the self-perceived stress levels of the surveyed individuals did not increase during the campaign. The researchers suspect that participants might have downplayed their perception of stress during the interviews. However, stress markers in hair samples decreased when respondents perceived supportive words from the ‘yes’ campaign. This finding underscores the importance of fair treatment and supportive discourse for better health outcomes among minorities, according to the research team.

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Adapted from German by DeepL/amva

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