Supporters had high expectations for a 2010 ballot
initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in California. Those
expectations were ultimately met with disappointment when the measure failed.
Regardless of the outcome, the level of optimism among supporters of the issue
was intriguing to Zlatan Krizan, an assistant professor of psychology at Iowa
State University.
“People tend to expect things they want to happen to
actually happen. The reason this is interesting in elections is because your
ability to make that happen, assuming you’re not heavily involved with the
campaign, is almost zero,” Krizan said. “It makes sense that if you want to be
a better musician to believe you can become a better musician, because you can
control that, you can develop your skills. Voting is not quite like that.”