The Effects of Political Misalignment With the Government on Individual Well‐Being and Mental Health

ABSTRACT While psychological well‐being and life satisfaction have been widely studied, the mental health effects of political events remain understudied. This paper examines how the ideological distance between individuals and their government affects well‐being and mental health. We use 11 years of panel data from the SHARE survey across 21 European countries, merged with cabinet ideology data from ParlGov. A two‐way fixed‐effects model reveals that greater ideological distance negatively impacts life satisfaction and mental health, and, to a lesser extent, overall well‐being, especially in polarized countries, among left‐leaning individuals after a right‐wing shift in the government, among younger adults in our sample (50–66 years) and when government identity is least predictable ex ante.