Abstract
The extent to which voting is a rational behavior is highly debated among social psychologists and political scientists. This paper aims to answer the question of what guides the voting behavior in Kosovo. Firstly, it suggests that the voters’ rationality is limited and that implicit biases override policy analysis. Secondly, it argues that social identity, family voting, gender bias, ideology, and emotions are all significant in its own way in guiding the voting behavior in Kosovo. It does this through a combination of secondary and primary research that includes one survey of 250 respondents and the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The findings support the idea that rational and irrational factors compete with one another when the voting decision is being made. Generally, the irrational factors are the ones to prevail while rationality takes a secondary role in this matter. Lastly, the findings support the second hypothesis that that ideology, social identity, gender bias, emotions, and family all play an important role in affecting the voting behavior.
Publication Date
7-2018
Document Type
Senior Project
Student Type
Undergraduate
Advisor
Venera Demukai
Recommended Citation
Qorri, Fjolla, "The Psychology behind Voting Behavior in Kosovo" (2018). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from
https://repository.rit.edu/theses/9813
Campus
RIT Kosovo
