Bernie Sanders’ stunning upset in Michigan has given his campaign momentum. Donald Trump had supposedly slowed down. Then he got it back by winning Michigan, Mississippi, and Hawaii. The word momentum is so commonly thrown around during presidential elections that we asked University of Maryland Professor Seppo Iso-Ahola and coauthor with Charles Dotson of “Psychological Momentum: Why Success Breeds Success“ what it actually means.
ResearchGate: What is psychological momentum?
Seppo Iso-Ahola: Psychological momentum is an added or gained psychological power that changes a person’s view of him/herself or of others’ views of him/herself and themselves. It is experienced as a psychological force in which several factors (e.g., confidence and sense of competence) or qualities converge to enable one to perform at a level not ordinarily possible.
Similarly, observers (e.g., spectators in sporting events) perceive performers having or not having psychological momentum and perceive it to be a main determinant of performance.
From both performers’ and observers’ perspective, it is a fluctuating and changing state that is usually short-lived, especially in fast-paced events such as basketball games. But it can also be long-lasting, particularly in such performance situations as golf or presidential primaries.
In general, our theory and data indicate that the more frequent, more lasting, and more intense momentums (or any combination thereof) performers can create, the more successful they will be.
RG: Can you explain how psychological momentum works in the context of presidential primaries?
SI: Psychological momentum requires initial success; it does not come from thin air. The greater or more impactful the initial success, the more likely is the birth of psychological momentum. But while one initial strong success can ignite psychological momentum, more often a sequence of successes is required. So, a candidate can grab momentum by winning Iowa but if it is not followed up quickly with other primary wins, momentum dies. The more sequential successes a candidate accumulates, the more momentum he acquires and builds, and the more it starts feeding itself in an upward spiral with the net result of better performance.
