The Anxiety of Political Uncertainty: Insights from the Brexit Vote

“First, anxiety may affect many life outcomes by impairing cognitive performance (Raghunathan and Pham 1999; Wetherell et al. 2002; Linder et al. 2020).”

“Keywords: immigration; Brexit; mental health; anxiety; uncertainty; political events Massively shared societal events—such as terrorist attacks (Huddy et al. 2005), natural disasters (Beaglehole et al. 2018), and pandemics (Fetzer et al. 2020)—can have widespread cognitive and affective effects.”

“Keywords: immigration; Brexit; mental health; anxiety; uncertainty; political events Massively shared societal events—such as terrorist attacks (Huddy et al. 2005), natural disasters (Beaglehole et al. 2018), and pandemics (Fetzer et al. 2020)—can have widespread cognitive and affective effects.”

“First, anxiety may affect many life outcomes by impairing cognitive performance (Raghunathan and Pham 1999; Wetherell et al. 2002; Linder et al. 2020).”

“Second, substantial evidence exists that anxiety can have negative implications for labor market outcomes and productivity (Chatterji et al. 2007; Frijters, Johnston, and Shields 2014; Banerjee, Chatterji, and Lahiri 2017).”

“Second, substantial evidence exists that anxiety can have negative implications for labor market outcomes and productivity (Chatterji et al. 2007; Frijters, Johnston, and Shields 2014; Banerjee, Chatterji, and Lahiri 2017).”

“In fact, financial markets worldwide had an immediate negative reaction to the electoral result, with the UK pound depreciating to a 31-year low against the U.S. dollar (Ramiah, Pham, and Moosa 2016), and the economic downturn was forecasted to be stronger in the UK than in other eU countries.”

“For instance, evidence exists that positive messages from doctors and teachers can reduce anxiety among patients and students, respectively (Furner and Duffy 2002; Stortenbeker et al. 2018).”

“2016 election of Donald Trump, have been followed by widely shared negative psychological experiences (Hoyt et al. 2018).”

“This corresponds well with a large literature indicating that migrants tend to have a health advantage over natives across countries (giuntella et al. 2018, 2019).”

“Antidepressant prescriptions increased after the referendum (Vandoros, Avendano, and Kawachi 2019; Liew, goodwin, and Walasek 2020), although only small effects appeared on average life satisfaction of UK residents (Powdthavee et al. 2019).”

“…the referendum result was accompanied by uncertainty about the future social rights of eU migrants in the UK (Hall et al. 2020; Mcghee, Moreh, and Vlachantoni 2017).2 Some evidence indicated that the referendum increased social anxiety among eU migrants (Frost 2020; guma and Dafydd Jones 2019).”

“economic anxiety related to the referendum result was high in general with the overall negative outlook for the UK economy after the vote (Belke and gros 2017).”

“For instance, evidence exists that positive messages from doctors and teachers can reduce anxiety among patients and students, respectively (Furner and Duffy 2002; Stortenbeker et al. 2018).”

“…version of the UK Annual Population Survey produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and supplied by the UK Data Service (UKDS), but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the ONS or UKDS. about the rights of eU migrants in the UK (Vargas-Silva 2016).”

“For example, after the Trump election, premature births increased among Latina women, a factor linked with increased anxiety among the U.S. Latino population (gemmill et al. 2020).”

“Antidepressant prescriptions increased after the referendum (Vandoros, Avendano, and Kawachi 2019; Liew, goodwin, and Walasek 2020), although only small effects appeared on average life satisfaction of UK residents (Powdthavee et al. 2019).”

“Studies have demonstrated that uncertainty surrounding elections, governance changes, and economic downturns can lead to future-oriented anxiety, heightened vigilance, and cognitive rigidity [49].”