Reaching across the aisle: Committed and optimistic citizens support a non‐preferred presidency and cooperate with electoral winners

• DOI: 10.1111/pops.70018
• Publication Date: 2025-04-03T11:58:38Z
• Authors: Ismaharif Ismail; Lile Jia

AbstractIncreasing voters' cooperative tendencies following an election loss is paramount for modern democracies, especially those becoming increasingly polarized. In the context of the 2020 United States presidential election, we investigated the effect of national attachment on Americans' cooperative tendencies following an electoral loss. In a preregistered study, Americans' national attachment along three dimensions (commitment, deference, superiority) and their cognitive identification with the country (importance) were measured. Americans who were more committed to contributing to the country showed greater pre‐election readiness to accept a non‐preferred presidency and stronger post‐election intentions to cooperate with the non‐preferred president and his supporters. In contrast, importance, deference, and superiority showed sporadic predictability and generally failed to contribute to cooperative intentions. Optimism toward the country mediated the effects of commitment, deference, and superiority on all attitudinal and intention measures, suggesting that it may serve as a ‘hub’ through which various dimensions of national attachment jointly facilitate cooperative tendencies. We discuss the implications of our findings for the graceful acceptance of election results among electoral losers, smooth leadership transitions, and understanding the motivational bases underlying political and societal issues.