PULLMAN, Wash. — A study out of Washington State University measured people’s emotional responses to Tuesday’s Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and President Trump.
The study found that, overall, debate viewers’ emotions were heightened.
“I think that’s an appropriate term for what we’re in. We’re in an emotional storm,” said Dr. Paul Bolls, Co-director of WSU’s Media Mind Lab.
Dr. Bolls and his research partner Dr. Yen-I Lee placed smart rings on 18 Democrats for Harris and 13 Republicans for Trump before the debate. All at least 30 years old. Throughout the study, the ring monitored participants’ sweat gland activity.
Results showed that certain moments in the debate elicited more emotional responses than others.
“Trump was fired by 81 million people, so let’s be clear about that, and clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that,” said Harris during the debate.
That line, as well as conversations around the January 6 riot, prompted a significant emotional response from participants.
However, less of an emotional response was recorded when Trump claimed migrants were eating pets.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating cats, they’re eating the pets,” said Trump during the debate.
Dr. Bolls said there could be an explanation for the difference in responses.
“Individuals might be somewhat emotionally desensitized to some of the things, some of the language, that Trump uses,” he said.
Overall, the research tends to show a more emotional response from Democrats who watched the debate, over Republicans.
According to the study, those results, along with the responses to a participant questionnaire, indicate Democrats appear to to see Trump as more of a visceral threat than Republicans do of Harris.
Dr. Bolls said he wants to be cautious about the conclusions drawn from the study, since it had a small sample size. But, he doesn’t want to be scientifically timid.
All participants were given a $50 electronic gift card for their participation.
You can find the more preliminary findings attached to this article.
WSU Murrow Media Lab Presidential Debate Test
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