Loss, Meaning-Making, and Coping After the 2016 Presidential Election

Abstract

Hillary Rodham Clinton was heralded by news outlets and political pundits as the clear frontrunner and expected winner of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Her election loss to Republican Donald Trump was not only surprising, for many voters, it was devastating. Guided by the death studies literature about meaning-making after a loss, the purpose of this study was to explore how voters who were disappointed by the results of the election made sense of the experience. Two hundred participants completed an online open-ended questionnaire about their feelings and coping methods for the loss. Participants framed Clinton’s loss as similar to the death of a loved one or the ending of a relationship. Participants utilized various coping strategies to deal with their grief, ranging from engaging in political activism to completely shutting themselves off from others. These findings have a number of implications for communication scholars and grief practitioners.