Emotions in Public Policy Research. Methodological Choices, Challenges and Future Directions

In recent years, emotions have become increasingly central in public policy research, shaping preferences, decisions, and interactions of policy actors, and gaining particular attention during a crisis. Despite this growing interest, studies remain scattered across disciplinary and methodological traditions, and a systematic understanding of how emotions are studied is still lacking. This article synthesises how emotions have been conceptualised, operationalised, and empirically investigated in public policy research, focussing on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. It further discusses how political scientists and public policy scholars may draw inspiration from psychological and behavioural sciences to adopt innovative analytical and methodological techniques. The findings highlight the strengths, limitations, and emerging innovations of existing approaches, offering a foundation for future research aimed at capturing the complexity of emotions in political and policy processes.