---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People do not necessarily vote in their…"
description: "\"“People do not necessarily vote in their self-interest. They vote their identity. They vote their values. They vote for who they identify with.”\" — Geo..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-lakoff-17996_identity_people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their_3117890.png"
---

#  People do not necessarily vote in their self-interest…

![“People do not necessarily vote in their self-interest. They vote their identity. They vote their values. They vote for who they identify with.” quote by George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-lakoff-17996_identity_people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their_3117890.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-lakoff-17996_identity_people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their_3117890.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-lakoff-17996_identity_people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their_3117890.png)

> ““People do not necessarily vote in their self-interest. They vote their identity. They vote their values. They vote for who they identify with.””

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

People’s voting behavior is driven more by identity, values, and group affiliation than by pure self‑interest.

**In simple terms:** Voting is about identity, not just self‑interest.

Key Takeaway

Consider values and identity in political choices.

Themes

politics identity values behavior psychology

Mood

analytical thoughtful

Type

political analytical

When to use this quote

- elections
- campaign strategy
- public discourse
- community building

Key Concepts

social identity theory cognitive framing

Questions to Reflect On

- How do your values shape your political choices?
- What role does group identity play in your decisions?

A Different Perspective

Oversimplifies complex motivations behind voting.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/)

## Related quotes

> [Yet we have a voting system that forbids us from actually bringing our values into our vote, which is, in my view, quite a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/yet-we-have-a-voting-system-that-forbids-us-from-actually-bringing/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [No party or candidate is perfect, but when you have your moral values, vote on that and you'll never be let down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-paulina-luna/no-party-or-candidate-is-perfect-but-when-you-have-your-moral-values/)

[Anna Paulina Luna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-paulina-luna/)

> [Everybody likes to get as much power as circumstances allow, and nobody will vote for a self-denying ordinance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everybody-likes-to-get-as-much-power-as-circumstances-allow-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The values that I have are the values I was raised with, from where I'm from, which is a middle-class place. So that informs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/the-values-that-i-have-are-the-values-i-was-raised-with-from-where-i/)

[Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/)

> [The psychological peer pressure that the left has employed - and deployed, actually - on young people has been overwhelmingly successful. It has created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-psychological-peer-pressure-that-the-left-has-employed-and/)

[Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/)

> [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

> [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Tell me how much a nation knows about its own language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/tell-me-how-much-a-nation-knows-about-its-own-language-and-i-will/)

[John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/)

> [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/)

[S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/)

> [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/)

[Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/)

> [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/)

[Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/)

> [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/)

[Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/)

> [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/)

[Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/)

> [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/)

[Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/)

## More by George Lakoff

> [Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/our-concepts-structure-what-we-perceive-how-we-get-around-in-the/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [Unless you frame yourself, others will frame you — the media, your enemies, your competitors, your well-meaning friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/unless-you-frame-yourself-others-will-frame-you-the-media-your/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [“This is how reason really works: through framing, metaphors, emotion, narratives, and imagery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/this-is-how-reason-really-works-through-framing-metaphors-emotion/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [If you're a progressive, you can find lots of people who call themselves conservatives, but who agree with you on lots of things. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/if-you-re-a-progressive-you-can-find-lots-of-people-who-call/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [The Public provides freedom...Individualism begins after the roads are built, after individualists have had an education, after medical research has cured their diseases...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-public-provides-freedom-individualism-begins-after-the-roads-are/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-essence-of-metaphor-is-understanding-and-experiencing-one-kind-of/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [We categorize as we do because we have the brains and bodies we have and because we interact in the world as we do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/we-categorize-as-we-do-because-we-have-the-brains-and-bodies-we-have/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [“The environment is not an "other" to us. It is not a collection of things that we encounter. Rather, it is part of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-environment-is-not-an-other-to-us-it-is-not-a-collection-of/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [Barack Obama understands what Ronald Reagan learned, which is that people vote not on the basis of issues and policy details, but on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/barack-obama-understands-what-ronald-reagan-learned-which-is-that/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [“Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/our-ordinary-conceptual-system-in-terms-of-which-we-both-think-and/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [Most conservatives are conservatives because they think they are morally correct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/most-conservatives-are-conservatives-because-they-think-they-are/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [You can't understand Twenty-first-Century Politics with an Eighteenth-Century Brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/you-can-t-understand-twenty-first-century-politics-with-an-eighteenth/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [“If you believe in the eighteenth century view of the mind, you will look and act wimpy. You will think that all you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/if-you-believe-in-the-eighteenth-century-view-of-the-mind-you-will/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [“The biology of empathy allows us to comprehend our connection to each other, to other living things, and to the physical world that supports…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/the-biology-of-empathy-allows-us-to-comprehend-our-connection-to-each/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

> [One of the things cognitive science teaches us is that when people define their very identity by a worldview, or a narrative, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/one-of-the-things-cognitive-science-teaches-us-is-that-when-people/)

[George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

[Explore all 36 George Lakoff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/)

## More Identity quotes

> [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/)

[Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/)

> [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/)

[Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/)

> [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/)

[Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/)

> [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/)

[Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/)

> [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/)

[Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/)

> [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/)

[S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/)

> [Tell me how much a nation knows about its own language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/tell-me-how-much-a-nation-knows-about-its-own-language-and-i-will/)

[John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/)

> [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/)

[Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/)

> [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/)

[C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/)

> [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/)

[Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/)

> [“Self-realization or self-knowing or awakening is about knowing/ becoming conscious of our true nature and living in harmony with the universe in an ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/self-realization-or-self-knowing-or-awakening-is-about-knowing/)

[Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/)

> [“There are some things that one individual can do for another, and there are some things that one race can do for another. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/there-are-some-things-that-one-individual-can-do-for-another-and/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [“Why were there no words that spoke positively about being concerned about the self? Why was there only negative connotation in terms like "selfish",…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-dalton/why-were-there-no-words-that-spoke-positively-about-being-concerned/)

A.J. Dalton

[Browse all 11,949 Identity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“People do not necessarily vote in their self-interest. They vote their identity. They vote their values. They vote for who they identify with.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "George Lakoff"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their-self-interest-they-vote-their/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Identity"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their-self-interest-they-vote-their/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-lakoff-17996_identity_people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their_3117890.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-lakoff-17996_identity_people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their_3117890.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e0/george-lakoff-17996_identity_people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their_3117890.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“People do not necessarily vote in their self-interest. They vote their identity. They vote their values…” — George Lakoff",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "George Lakoff",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“People do not necessarily vote in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their-self-interest-they-vote-their/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/people-do-not-necessarily-vote-in-their-self-interest-they-vote-their/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```