Determinant factors of young voters’ emotional states towards voting decision in Malaysian’s 14th general election: survey studies in Lembah Pantai constituency / Wan Azizi Wan Mohamed

This research aims to explore the new dimension of Malaysia’s political system,
considering the role of an individual’s emotional states of judgement among young
voters in the form of their awareness, political participation and behaviour in respect of
voting decision during an election. The decisive role of the young voters and
participation continues to mound the future direction of the country as their turnout
during elections indicates a new political awakening among the youth. The role of
young voters in political process is dynamic and crucial as media is now becoming more
accessible to them to obtain information relating to election process. Media exposure
has socially and politically impact participation when citizens are more aware and
engaged in the political processes. Due to the increase in the literacy rate, the level of
education and the advancement of communication technology in a developed country
like Malaysia, a person’s emotions have become a crucial factor in influencing the
decision-making process in their everyday life. In general, this study of voter decision
processes focuses on the way individuals evaluate their political alternatives, select a
preferred alternative, and cast their vote. In this study, Marcus’s Theory of Affective
Intelligence (AIT) was used to evaluate how emotional characteristics or states such as
enthusiasm, anger and anxiety influence a voter’s decision. This study employed
Newman’s cognitive domains Model of Voters’ Choice Behaviour such as Political
Issues, Social Imagery, Candidate Personality, Situational Contingency and Epistemic
Value to understand factors that influence voting behaviour that later contribute the
factors of winning and losing of any political parties contesting in an election.
Quantitative method was used in this study because it is easier to measure categories
such as attitudes, opinions, behaviour, and defined variables. The research instrument
used is the questionnaire. This study involved 400 survey respondents from Lembah
Pantai Parliamentary constituency to answer all the questions provided in the
questionnaire. The results of this study evaluated determinant factors of young voters’
emotional state; their choice behaviour and subsequently influence voters’ decision to
vote. The study showed interpretation of correlations between cognitive domains and
decision-making. The findings also found that emotional campaigning would not have
been so effective without the rise of anger and nationalism. There is a need to appreciate
emotions, longer-term changes within political parties, and demographic shifts.