Emotalizer: Scottish Independence

“David Cameron may well feel ‘heartbroken’ by a Yes vote, but the English public doesn’t care if Scotland secedes”

In the lead up to the Scottish Independence Referendum, we asked English and Scottish residents what is the main emotion they would feel if Scotland voted to become independent from the United Kingdom. They also rated their emotional reaction on two aspects of any core emotion: activation (how strong it is) and pleasure (how positive it is).

In England, the most cited emotions were indifference and sadness. One in three English residents is indifferent, one in five would be sad, and one in ten would actually be happy to see a Yes vote to independence. There was no North-South divide on how the English would feel. Corroborating this, the ratings of their emotional reactions showed residents of England, on average, to be somewhat disengaged and slightly negative about Scotland voting to become independent.

Scottish residents, however, were more polarized in their emotional reaction to independence. The most common emotion was happiness, followed by sadness. Indifference was rarely cited. Scottish residents also cited worry as their main emotion significantly more than residents of England. The activation and pleasure ratings found Scottish residents to be on average slightly engaged and positive about the potential for a Yes vote in the referendum. It looks like, though there are still concerns amongst Scottish residents, it’s more good news for Alex Salmond.