Emotional Reactions to the 2016 General Election Debates

This experimental study examines emotional reactions to the first 2016 presidential debate (9/26/2016). Employing both pre/post-test questionnaires and facial recognition software, viewers reactions are tracked in real time during the debate and after the debate is over. Measures include, subject demographic characteristics, political attitudes and pre/post-test attitudes towards the candidates, as well as frame-by-frame tracking of emotional reactions during the debate in the experimental conditions.