Sustaining long-term political engagement

(Note: check out my piece about this project on the Behavioral Scientist)

Postcard writing has gained momentum within the resistance movement both to contact elected officials and to connect with voters. Little research exists on the use of personal notes in campaigns and even less on the impact on the writers. We speculate that having positive social connections with other volunteers may be a mechanism for preventing burnout and maintaining political engagement over the long run.

Social psychology research has found mental health benefits from writing, especially in dealing with traumatic events (Pennebaker & Chung 2007). Research also shows that sharing positive social experiences with others promotes feelings of meaning and purpose in life (Major, Lundberg & Frederickson, 2017), which may have direct implications for sustaining volunteer engagement in political activities.

To study the impact of writing postcards on future civic engagement, CitizenBe teamed up with Postcards4VA and surveyed 619 volunteers who had committed to participating in Postcard4VA’s 100 Postcards Challenge for the 2017 Virginia election.

 

Study Design

In an online survey, we asked 619 Postcards4VA volunteers to report on:

1. whether they wrote postcards alone or with others (such as at postcard writing parties)
2. the positive emotions they felt during postcard writing
3. their perceptions of how impactful their efforts would be in having an impact on the political system
4. level of self-identification with political participation
5. their intentions to engage in future political actions

Analysis and Impact

Our study found that the social and emotional elements of writing postcards can increase civic engagement in terms of emotional outlook, scope of involvement, and likelihood of continued participation.