From outrage to action: Efficacy moderates the relationship between anger and prosocial political outcomes

Abstract

Politically motivated anger has surged among American adults in recent years with few signs of decline. Anger has often been associated with aggression and with violent outcomes. Here, we examined nonviolent mobilizing outcomes of anger; specifically the conditions under which anger is associated with political action and voting intentions. Informed by the Anger Activism Model (AAM; [1]), we analyzed aggregated data from a national rolling cross-sectional survey collected in the five weeks before the November 2024 U.S. presidential election ( N = 1,049). We measured anger intensity, multiple forms of political efficacy (response, internal, external), commitment to social activism, and voting intention. Analyses revealed that the relationship between anger and prosocial political behavior was contingent on efficacy type and level. Among respondents with low response efficacy, very high anger was associated with greater commitment to activism but lower intention to vote. Among respondents high in these forms of efficacy, anger showed little association with either outcome. External political efficacy did not meaningfully moderate these associations. These results provide partial support for the AAM and indicate that anger’s associations with political outcomes depend not only on its intensity but also on which form of efficacy is salient.