by Sentimenti Team | May 23, 2023 | Market research, Politics and Social
Politics, emotions and polls are closely intertwined. Politicians of parties vying for seats in the upcoming parliamentary elections are trying to reach potential voters through all available channels. They are, of course, also using social media for this purpose.
Emotions in tweets by leaders of political groups (anger and trust)
One of the channels that politicians use to convey their opinions, but also the substantive elements of their election programs, is Twitter. Individual posts on the Twitter accounts of the following politicians were analyzed for the period April 11 to May 10, 2023:
- Adrian Zandberg,
- Szymon Hołownia,
- Mateusz Morawiecki,
- Zbigniew Ziobro,
- Władysław Kosiniak – Kamysz,
- Robert Winnicki,
- Donald Tusk.
It was investigated what emotions they were and how they might be perceived by Twitter users. The analysis involved measuring the intensity of selected emotions of anger and trust. Individual analysis results were published periodically on our accounts: Twitter and Facebook.
The activity of politicians on Twitter varied, but most importantly, the intensity of anger and trust that their posts evoked varied. The chart below shows collectively the values of the average intensity of the indicated emotions over the entire period under study.
Only the entries of Mateusz Morawiecki and Donald Tusk evoked higher trust over anger. Close to balanced were the entries of Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, where anger and trust occurred at similar intensities. In the case of the remaining politicians, the emotion of anger far outweighed trust. We emphasize it was not the task of the analysis to assess the substantive content of the entries, but to measure the intensity of the emotions they evoked.
Emotions in leaders’ tweets vs. poll results
The results of polls are a product of both the substantive content of programs, speeches, publications, but also undoubtedly the emotions they evoke in the audience, i.e. potential voters. We asked ourselves whether it was possible to find a correlation between the emotions evoked by the tweets of political party leaders and the results of published polls. We based our research on surveys by the Institute for Market and Social Research IBRiS:
In the case of the United Right, the May 17, 2023 poll recorded a 1.5% drop in support compared to the April 11, 2023 results. During this period (which the poll covered), an increase in the intensity of anger with a concomitant decrease in trust was noted in the entries of the group’s leaders. The reason for this – as the results of measuring the intensity of anger and trust showed – may have been the tweets published on Zbigniew Ziobra’s account.
At the same time, the Civic Coalition recorded a nearly 2% increase in support. Whether and what impact Donald Tusk’s Twitter posts had on this situation is difficult to judge. However, it can be noted that the increase in poll support occurred in parallel with an increase in the intensity of emotions of trust in the statements published by the politician.
Looking at the emotions evoked by the tweets of Szymon Holownia and Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, one can ask the question – is it thanks to the latter’s balanced statements that the PL2050 + PSL bloc recorded a slight increase in support? The question is legitimate, since in Szymon Holownia’s tweets one can notice a significant disproportion in the saturation of emotions of anger and confidence.
In the case of the Confederation and Left support polls, it can be noted that one of the factors in the lack of growth (Left) and decline in support (Confederation) in the May 17, 2023 poll may also have been a decline in audience trust in the content published on Twitter by the leaders of these formations.
The emotions that parties and politicians arouse in voters are important
Observing the Polish political scene, it is hard to resist the impression that the “actors” on it use the simplest tools to influence the audience. So what if they can have the best political and social programs, etc. if they don’t know (after all, hardly anyone measures emotions):
- How to present your program, your vision in a way that inspires confidence,
- That one should control negative emotions (in this case, anger). Too strongly and too insistently politicians try to “play” on negative emotions.
Looking at the results of emotion analysis and survey results, we should conclude that it is worthwhile to study emotions, and just as worthwhile to bet on positive emotions. It is worth monitoring emotions in spontaneous statements, and not just conducting surveys, because in the latter the respondent thinks about his emotions, rather than expressing them.
Part of the political scene trusts Sentimenti. By commissioning it to conduct regular surveys, it seems to be doing well at it.
by Sentimenti Team | May 17, 2023 | In the media
Intro: Artificial intelligence is already being used in various spheres of our lives – in manufacturing, in industry, in medicine, and perhaps most importantly in analyzing large data sets. But is it possible to use it in investing? Can it suggest how to manage funds?
Author: Szymon Machniewski
Place and date of publication: Money.pl, 17-05-2023
Article link (Polish)
Article to download (Polish)
by Sentimenti Team | May 11, 2023 | In the media
Intro: The algorithm helps corporations recognize customers’ feelings and stock market players tell them how to invest. Damian Grimling’s company has taught artificial intelligence to define real emotions, and has plenty of ideas on how to use this sensitivity of intelligence
Author: Natalia Chudzyńska-Stępień
Place and date of publication: Forbes Polska, 05-2023
Link to the article
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by Sentimenti Team | Feb 22, 2023 | Politics and Social
For the past few days, Poland, Europe, the world have listened intently to the speeches of the US and Russian presidents.
General picture of emotions in speeches of US and Russian presidents
President Biden and Putin gave speeches on the same issues – that is, the war in Ukraine. Both speeches were characterized by a high intensity of agitation and emotion. These intensities were noticeably higher in Putin’s speech and involved emotions described as negative (anger, sadness, revulsion). Both speeches were analyzed paragraph by paragraph.
Issues that arouse the strongest negative emotions
Both J. Biden and V. Putin used expressive emotions in their message. The difference was which issues raised, the speakers endowed with emotions that strongly affect the listeners. To illustrate this, the paragraphs characterized by the greatest intensity of emotions (anger, sadness, revulsion) were selected for analysis.
W przypadku przemówienia J. Bidena największe natężenie takich emocji pojawiło się przy wspomnieniu o udokumentowanym barbarzyństwie rosyjskich agresorów:
- “The extraordinary brutality of Russian troops and mercenaries. Their depravity, they commit crimes against humanity, without shame or scruples. Intentionally bringing death and destruction to civilians. Using rape as a tool of warfare. Stealing Ukrainian children as an attempt to rob Ukraine of its future.”
- “Bombing train stations, maternity wards, schools, orphanages. No one, no one can look away from the atrocities committed by the Russians against the Ukrainian people. It’s disgusting, it’s disgusting.”
On the other hand, in V. Putin’s speech, anger, sadness, and revulsion appeared in the greatest intensity at the alleged crimes committed by the Ukrainian government against its citizens, which he discussed:
- “At the same time, a regime of repression against its own citizens, established immediately after the armed coup of 2014, has intensified in Ukraine. The policy of intimidation, terror and violence is taking increasingly massive, horrific and barbaric forms.”
- “I would like to emphasize that we know that the majority of people living in areas liberated from neo-Nazis, primarily in the historic lands of Novorossiya, do not want to be under the yoke of the neo-Nazi regime. In Zaporizhia, Kherson region, Luhansk and Donetsk, they have seen and see the atrocities committed by neo-Nazis in the occupied districts of Kharkiv region. Descendants of Bandera and Nazi executioners are killing people, torturing, imprisoning, levelling, massacring and torturing civilians.”
Matters that arouse the strongest positive emotions
Even greater differences appeared with issues that speakers saturated with strong emotions that were read by listeners as positive messages. This is shown by the paragraphs with the highest intensity of emotions of joy and trust.
Thus, the strongest emotions of joy and trust in J. Biden’s speech appeared when he thanked for the help shown and asked for blessings:
- “May God bless you all. May God protect our troops. And may God bless the heroes of Ukraine and those who defend freedom around the world.”
“Thank you, Poland. Thank you, thank you, thank you for what you are doing. God bless you.”
In the case of V. Putin, the strongest positive emotions came in the speech when he addressed issues related to the army and the “intervention” being carried out:
- “In this context, the decision to conduct a pre-emptive military operation was absolutely necessary and the only possible one. Its main goals – the liberation of the entire Donbass territory – were and remain unchanged.”
- “Those called up for military service will undergo additional military training that takes into account the experience of the special military operation before being sent to units.”
To sum up, both J. Biden and V. Putin in their speeches did not hesitate to use statements that evoke strong emotions in their listeners. The difference, however, was whether the strong emotions were meant to emphasize real, key events – as was the case with J. Biden’s speech – or whether they were only meant to “give credence” to the theses made by V. Putin.
