University of Twente Student Theses
The Story Behind the Vote : Unveiling the Narratives Behind Dutch Voting Behaviour and Decision-Making
Potgieter, J.B. (2025) The Story Behind the Vote : Unveiling the Narratives Behind Dutch Voting Behaviour and Decision-Making.
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| Abstract: | Voting behaviour is shaped by a wide range of interacting influences. While traditional research often presents it as a rational and calculated process, recent work also recognises less-rational factors such as emotion, intuition, and identity. However, the interaction between these rational and less-rational influences remains underexplored, particularly from the voter’s perspective. This study addressed that gap by exploring how voters reflect on and experience their own decision-making, focusing on the interplay between rational reasoning and more emotional, less-rational considerations. A qualitative narrative approach was used, based on 40 semi-structured interviews with Dutch voters. Each interview began with an open-ended narrative prompt inviting participants to share their voting experiences across the last two national elections, followed by 11 questions informed by existing literature and the study’s conceptual framework to probe both rational and less-rational influences. Findings revealed that voters often blended analytical reasoning with intuitive or emotional influences. Rational factors such as issue alignment and voting guides were common, yet gut feelings and group identity also played a role. Many participants combined both types of influence in the same narrative. The study showed that voting is not purely rational but a dynamic mix of logic, emotion, identity, and intuition. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies, 89 political science |
| Programme: | Communication Science MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/106332 |
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