Moralne emocije i polarizacija birača
Moral Emotions and Polarization of Voters

Summary/Abstract: The role of moral emotions in polarization of voters was examined in a public opinion research, conducted prior to the Parliamentary Elections in 2007 on a nationally representative sample of adults in Croatia. The used measures included questions on the salience of morality and competence as criteria of political choice, as well as short (three-item) scales of positive and negative moral emotions elicited by the two major political parties in the election. Contrary to the results of previous studies, where moral emotions and perceived morality and competence were found to be equally strong predictors of political choice, this research has shown moral emotions to be more significant in the identification of extreme groups of voters. Such results are mostly in agreement with the numerous findings stating that, in the area of morality, "evil is stronger than good", or that the negative issues more frequently draw voters’ attention and elicit more intense reactions.

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