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After taking a deep dive in July, the collective emotional well-being of the U.S. populace rebounded last month. The CivicScience Well-Being Index showed a significant increase of close to a full percentage point from one month to the next, reaching a monthly score of 57.5%.
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What are the most noticeable trends behind this massive shift in perceived wellness? With the upcoming presidential election, politics has taken center stage. July’s decline was largely driven by Democrats, likely responding to the uncertainty of the Democratic presidential nominee. Things turned around in August among Democrats, as Kamala Harris clinched the nomination with Tim Walz as the VP nominee. Independents also reported improved well-being.
On the other hand, Republicans – who typically maintain a higher well-being score than Democrats or Independents – showed a substantial decline in well-being in August of nearly a full point. That represents the first decline among Republicans since February.
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Additional data in the latest CivicScience Election Mindset Tracker suggest increased enthusiasm for the Harris/Walz ticket, while the opposite is true for the Trump/Vance ticket. (To access the tracker, click here.)
However, collective emotional well-being is averaging more than half a point lower than this time last year. Americans are more likely to report increased feelings of worry and stress, and decreased feelings of excitement.
