The recent debacle by the country's elite athletes at the just concluded SEA Games in Cambodia is one such event that could potentially determine the elections in the 6 states and whether the parties aligned to the present Federal government will continue to govern or have their majorities reduced or thrown out.
The effects of sports results are an example of genuinely irrelevant events that can affect mood and, thus, voting behaviour.
It had nothing to do with the competence or effectiveness of the government.
Generally, the ordinary rakyat is assumed to be rational in evaluating the government's performance.
They can form and have their own political opinions in voting decisions at election time.
According to this point of view, voters reward or punish the government and individual candidates based on relevant performance indicators and policy responses, i.e. the ordinary rakyat reward the government for effective management of the economy and punishes it for negative economic performance.
But the results of the last few elections appear to indicate otherwise.
Was the rationality and competence of voters generally overstated?
What are the levels of political knowledge of the ordinary rakyat that helped them to make their choices?
Do the ordinary rakyat and voters who experience negative experiences punish incumbents for these events despite the fact they are clearly beyond the control of the politicians, such as the sporting results of the nation's athletes?
Both football and badminton hold significant importance in Malaysian culture. It is evident in the past when governments declared the following day a national holiday to celebrate victories of the national teams in these sports, even for regional tournaments.
When the national badminton team won the Thomas Cup in 1992, and the national football team won the AFF Suzuki Football tournament in 2010, the government declared the following day a public holiday.
Even the Federal Territory of KL, Labuan and Putrajaya and the state government of Selangor declared the following working day a public holiday when their state football team won the 2021 and 2015 Malaysia Cup, respectively.
The government's response to a sporting victory is typically exempt from scrutiny, especially in the immediate aftermath of the event.
The success of the national team in sports directly impacts individuals' moods and has a ripple effect through social networks, as people experience a sense of pride and joy in the team's achievements.
These positive emotions can spill over into political evaluations, influencing how voters perceive and judge political actors.
During times of elevated mood, voters tend to focus on positive sentiments and are more inclined to support incumbents, whereas during periods of low mood, they are more likely to express dissatisfaction and seek change.
When individuals are in a positive mood and have a heightened sense of well-being, they tend to view events and individuals in a more positive light compared to when their mood is low.
FLK is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
