No one knows better than an Angeleno the soul-sucking nature of the daily commute. Battling the freeway maze can leave you exhausted at the end of the day, and according to a recent study, it might also leave you politically apathetic -- especially if you’re poor.

Results from a survey of 590 working adults revealed that those who reported longer commutes also said that they were less involved in politics -- an effect that becomes more magnified the further down the socioeconomic ladder you look.

And it’s not just a matter of having less time to be involved, the study’s authors say. If it were, those who worked longer hours would experience a similar decline in political engagement (they didn’t).

Instead, the study points to the unique mental burden of commuting as a cause for political disengagement, and commuters who are poorer to start have less psychological resources at the end of the day to engage.

Guest:
Patrick Lown, PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University, and one of the authors of “The ‘Daily Grind’: Work, Commuting, and their Impact on Political Participation”