This psychological analysis of Trump supporters has exposed 5 alarming traits about them

[RKP5637]

Sure makes sense ...

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/12/this-psychological-analysis-of-trump-supporters-has-exposed-5-alarming-traits-about-them/



Although analyses and studies by psychologists and neuroscientists have provided many thought-provoking explanations for his enduring support, the accounts of different experts often vary greatly, sometimes overlapping and other times conflicting. However insightful these critiques may be, it is apparent that more research and examination is needed to hone in on the exact psychological and social factors underlying this peculiar human behavior.

1. Authoritarian Personality Syndrome

Authoritarianism refers to the advocacy or enforcement of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom, and is commonly associated with a lack of concern for the opinions or needs of others. Authoritarian personality syndrome—a well-studied and globally-prevalent condition—is a state of mind that is characterized by belief in total and complete obedience to one’s authority. Those with the syndrome often display aggression toward outgroup members, submissiveness to authority, resistance to new experiences, and a rigid hierarchical view of society. The syndrome is often triggered by fear, making it easy for leaders who exaggerate threat or fear monger to gain their allegiance.

2. Social dominance orientation

Social dominance orientation (SDO)—which is distinct but related to authoritarian personality syndrome—refers to people who have a preference for the societal hierarchy of groups, specifically with a structure in which the high-status groups have dominance over the low-status ones. Those with SDO are typically dominant, tough-minded, and driven by self-interest.

3. Prejudice

It would be grossly unfair and inaccurate to say that every one of Trump’s supporters have prejudice against ethnic and religious minorities, but it would be equally inaccurate to say that many do not. It is a well-known fact that the Republican party, going at least as far back to Richard Nixon’s “southern strategy,” used strategies that appealed to bigotry, such as lacing speeches with “dog whistles”—code words that signaled prejudice toward minorities that were designed to be heard by racists but no one else.

4. Intergroup contact (... lack of ...)

Intergroup contact refers to contact with members of groups that are outside one’s own, which has been experimentally shown to reduce prejudice. As such, it’s important to note that there is growing evidence that Trump’s white supporters have experienced significantly less contact with minorities than other Americans. For example, a 2016 study found that “…the racial and ethnic isolation of Whites at the zip-code level is one of the strongest predictors of Trump support.” This correlation persisted while controlling for dozens of other variables. In agreement with this finding, the same researchers found that support for Trump increased with the voters’ physical distance from the Mexican border.

5. Relative deprivation

Relative deprivation refers to the experience of being deprived of something to which one believes they are entitled. It is the discontent felt when one compares their position in life to others who they feel are equal or inferior but have unfairly had more success than them.

Common explanations for Trump’s popularity among non-bigoted voters involve economics. There is no doubt that some Trump supporters are simply angry that American jobs are being lost to Mexico and China, which is certainly understandable, although these loyalists often ignore the fact that some of these careers are actually being lost due to the accelerating pace of automation.

[AJT]

1. 4 should be lack of intergroup contact

[RKP5637]

2. Good point! I added that in after the title. I think they implied that, but they had not

explicitly stated it.

[olegramps]

16. I think that group association is an important factor.

I was interested in just what the so-called evangelicals believed so I attended two church groups for several sessions. I was warmly welcomed into the congregation which I believed is an important aspect. They immediately included me without reservation. It soon became apparent that acceptance and rejection was dependent on accepting what the leadership conveyed. I believe that it has appeal since it is an immediate substitute family and friendships. However, it was apparent that acceptance was predicated on total agreement with their strict ultraconservative beliefs. Any questioning resulted in immediate rejection as being unacceptable. I saw this happen and those who wanted to remain quickly renounced their error. They are solidly staunch Republican and there is no tolerance for anyone who doesn't toe the line. Conversations are one sided with strict condemnation of any liberalism. Someone says so-and-so is advocating homosexuality and should be shunned and everyone quickly adds their affirmation. Similarly, to question Trump's behavior leads to automatic rejection as unsubstantiated liberal bias. I wish more people would get acquainted with the extent of influence that these congregations have on freedom of thought and how stiffing it can be. Another thought is just how removed it is from actual religious convection. The services are designed to be highly emotional high-tech theatrics and with little if any theological depth.

[RKP5637]

21. Definitely!!! "The services are designed to be highly emotional high-tech theatrics and with little

if any theological depth. Group think dominates and others are outcasts. Pitiful!!!

[Beartracks]

32. Excellent post. Thank you. n/t

[I_UndergroundPanther]

51. This needs to be its own post

Kick

[olegramps]

54. Feel free to do so if you think it is warranted.

Last edited Mon Dec 16, 2019, 01:40 PM - Edit history (1)

[MH1]

3. A finer point about intergroup contact:

it needs to be positive contact, preferably where people work together to achieve common goals.

Having neighbors of another race, if everyone gets along and keeps their property reasonably well, actually supports that.

Unfortunately white people who work in situations where they have lots of contact with blacks ... but it's mostly negative ... tend to have their biases strengthened. (example situations, people in law enforcement, or sometimes even social services.)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Yup. Kids playing together aren't racist. They learn it from adults. . . . nt

[Captain Zero]

42. Yes. Republican Social Workers do exist.

It always amazed me when I was working, but this may explain it. I always thought it would be a good name for a Punk Rock Band too. Republican Social Workers.

[Thomas Hurt]

4. Conservative prejudice isn't restricted to color or sexual preference...

Conservatives see certain other people as lessers and those people are there to be used, exploited, cheated, owned, repressed, assaulted, killed or genocided. Mostly to line their own pockets with money.

[RKP5637]

22. Definitely money, a key element to procure. We see it all the time with religion and accumulation

of cash for the supreme leaders.

[matt819]

5. We know all that

How do you create cracks in that devotion? Or will it always be a matter of there are more of us than of them? And that clearly does not work in an electoral college situation.

Remember, using these techniques Jim Jones got hundreds of people to kill their children and themselves. Does anyone put this kind of thing past trump? Getting his followers to murder everyone else?

[RKP5637]

23. My thought is tRump is ruthless, and will use any means to promote himself. ... genocide of sorts.

He's the most dangerous I've seen in this country with power and authority over the masses. He reminds me of the critters in the WWII era.

[nolabear]

45. Interact. Ask questions. Don't condescend.

I don’t mean don’t disagree or be critical of the things others do or think that do harm, and I do t mean don’t stop them when necessary. And I don’t mean don’t be proud of who you are. Just the opposite.

[Stargleamer]

6. Susceptibility to propaganda

should also be on this list

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Yeah, rat's nest of confirmation bias, lack of critical thinking, illogic, .... . . . nt

[gordianot]

7. In some cases they just want a show and the comradeship of other idiots.

When you hear “he sounds like me” know what is in your presence. His rallies are straight from the WWF. Some of the slightly smarter ones know it is fake but there are some who really believe what he says.

[Hortensis]

8. These are strong patterns for the most zealous Trump supporters.

Water them down to remove the image of those at Trump rallies who'd love them to turn into riots to smite the outsiders, and they fit a lot more people.

Well over a third of Americans these days. Add in a big terrorist attack, and it'd at least temporarily be more like 2/3.

It really can happen here.

[KPN]

12. Yes, 9/11 clearly fostered growth. Two-thirds is a realistic estimate. A frightening thought.

[Hortensis]

19. And if 20% of the votes to transfer power of the people

to authorities and wealthy classes, at any time, are actually stolen from decent people who were fighting to protect their democracy.

Massive election theft is always a big part of authoritarian takeovers. And these days we're seeing massive election theft -- combined with large numbers of people so confused by lies that they say they don't know what to think. Or what to vote for.



Thank goodness for the messages of the midterms. Without them I think I might have already asked our physician for an anxiolytic, and I've never even borrowed a Xanax or sleeping pill to try it out.

[RKP5637]

25. Yes, sadly IMO too, "It really can happen here." I still think a fair number of Americans still

do not grasp the severity of the situation.

[Hortensis]

31. That last. Even here many think 2020's about healthcare,

not about losing the power to decide or all the individual rights codified over the last century by our liberal democracy?

[RKP5637]

34. Reminds me of Germany when quite a few, so I've read, thought Hitler was just a fad.

The US has never really been exposed to a tyrant and a regime trying to take over the country and really turn it into an authoritarian state and a dystopia for many. Europe and other countries have been exposed to this and can see/feel what is going on. Many Americans IMO just do not grasp the severity of the impending situation.

[Hortensis]

53. +1000. Massive election thefts played a really big part in

the National Socialist German Workers' Party (speaking of lying labels!) various takeovers. Who could have even imagined that normal people could turn into ones who could confiscate pets as yet another item in a long list of ways to persecute Jews and then kill the pets because they were tainted by Jewishness? Surprise! And that was only near the end of the beginning of the end.

As for Americans, before we gave most of it away under Reagan and the Bushes ("We have to get off the back of business!" ), almost anyone could have security and a measure of prosperity merely by finishing high school, acquiring an affordable skill, and working full time like everyone else. Not having to strive or suffer has definitely made us less resilient and more foolish.

[RKP5637]

55. Today, even a four year degree might not help one out. n/t

[Hortensis]

56. That's what nearly 40 years of conservative domination has created.

I paid for the first two years of my degree (at a community college) by writing checks the same way I wrote them for groceries. The state college required the same kind of budgeting school clothes and Christmas gifts did. Never a dime of debt. Kids today need to know there's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't have the same or even better.

Computer teaching was in its infancy, but I could see that it would greatly increase the quality of education at much lower cost, even greatly cut down the time to acquire a degree for those who went for that. Ha!

I guess it's best I didn't guess then what was coming by the end of the century. Certainly it was a mercy that my children were safely grown before degradation of jobs and education made that kind of comparatively effortless social mobility mostly a thing of the past.

Well, we have work to do.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

52. 1 in 4 people are sociopaths, narcissitic and

Authoritarian,that fits the demographic almost like a glove.
However there are exceptions
If they have the dark triad they might be a republican.

[zentrum]

11. Bannon I think was the one

......who said that to gain power over your followers, you target the ones who have a psychological neediness and then build on it. Give them an "other" to blame all their problems on.

It's a Goebbel's technique.

[RKP5637]

26. He would have served Hitler well!!! n/t

[coti]

13. They also make up negative lies about others in order to justifiy their own shittiness.

I.e., "But the Dems are just as bad! Hillary's emails!"

[yaesu]

14. all I know is, they are nuts and should be kept at a distance. nt

[lambchopp59]

15. Smothering in "othering"

The entire time my parents got the Waldenesque idea to "move to the country, live independently, off the grid" in the mid-70's.
Of course the discovery process to the painful reality of fierce independence cost our family, well, everything. The ending of their tale of independence was heart-breaking, with Fox Noise blathering their "patriotic" nonsense in the background.
It made my teenage years a nightmare living in a town so white-bread it was suffocating me, then doubly so when word got out I was not only of a mixed racial lineage, but also gay. LBGTQ youth of every stripe live homeless, forced to desperate actions for survival, then are labeled "hustlers", endure public, shaming criticisms of speculation into bedroom activities that no one of any orientation wouldn't find disturbing and privacy stripping.
Heavens is the picture above disturbing. It could just as well be the faces of the lynch mob who came after me.
I'm so glad for the hispanic side of my family, who rescued me without judgement, sheltered me from the white menace and helped my start in college. And... my uncle gave my parents the riot act over the phone for throwing me away when I graduated.
These days, nearly that entire town... Trumpers all. I'll never see it's quaint but nauseating facade again.

[RKP5637]

27. So damn tragic!!!

[lambchopp59]

43. albeit relatively short, and sort of lucky, tragedy

It was for a bit over a year I had to lay low, till I turned 18. Luckily, I knew my way around San Francisco from a previous sojourn. How I managed to steer mostly clear of urban dangers, I believe a benevolent guiding spirit was helping me along.
Most maddening aspect of that homeless experience was: it was relatives of the Phelps clan, of Westboro Baptist Church of Hate who stirred up the angry mobs. I had some PTSD issues for quite a while.
Forever when I hear of any (especially rural snaggletooth whitey white whites) (was that over the top? I can never tell) claiming and preaching their "Christianity", I tend to believe it would be of the sort Jesus Christ would walk the other side of the street to stay away from.
My parents and many, many so called "good kkkhristians" made life at 15, 16 years old for me a living nightmare. I'll always hold my Uncle C. and M. Ortiz in great reverent memory for the unconditional love and shelter and support they provided.

[RKP5637]

48. Thank you soooo much for sharing all of this!!!

[lindysalsagal]

17. This article and research nailed it. The fool was in the right place at the right time.

And that means these people will always be voting. For the next evil fool.

[RKP5637]

28. Yeah, that is one thing that has bothered me (among many) is who will be next! n/t

[kag]

18. Matchstick Men

This is how I always think about Republicans. (If you've never seen the movie it might not make much sense, but suffice it to say that Nicholas Cage and Sam Rockwell play conmen.)

The husband is so anxious to "show his wife" how to handle crooks, that he hands over their life savings to the crooks.

[RKP5637]

30. Thanks, I'm going to watch it! n/t

[Vinca]

20. They aren't the sharpest tacks, are they? The guy on the right has his hand over his pancreas.

[Initech]

24. They also have a smug sense of self superiority.

For proof of this just look at that MAGA kid from Kentucky and how he thought he was superior to a Native American army veteran.

[RKP5637]

29. That kid was a fucken asshole, no matter how one looks at it. He was disgusting!!! n/t

[Initech]

37. I was using him as an example.

That whole MAGA mindset can be boiled down to that kid's empty stare. And then the shit show and ridiculous lawsuit that followed. When you've seen one you've seen them all!

[RKP5637]

38. Yep!!! Fit the pattern 100% n/t

[njhoneybadger]

33. Or maybe they're just a bunch of ignorant fools who believe fox propaganda

[RKP5637]

40. Could be, but I really think one has to be really receptive to that kind of endless BS to ignore

everything else going on.

[Hortensis]

35. Growing GOP fascistic tactics embraced by these people should

cause a look at what fascism today is.

This article in Vox is pretty good. Even though the expert starts out waffling around about attitudes on both sides in the usual false-qualization CYA, he does get to it: that fascism is a form of extreme conservatism and that it's growing in America. Anything below recognizable in Trump's messages and supporters today?

In the past, fascist politics would focus on the dominant cultural group. The goal is to make them feel like victims, to make them feel like they’ve lost something and that the thing they’ve lost has been taken from them by a specific enemy, usually some minority out-group or some opposing nation.

This is why fascism flourishes in moments of great anxiety, because you can connect that anxiety with fake loss. The story is typically that a once-great society has been destroyed by liberalism or feminism or cultural Marxism or whatever, and you make the dominant group feel angry and resentful about the loss of their status and power. Almost every manifestation of fascism mirrors this general

Why is the destruction of truth, as a shared ideal, so critical to the fascist project? It’s important because truth is the heart of liberal democracy. The two ideals of liberal democracy are liberty and equality. lll Freedom requires knowledge, and in order to act freely in the world, you need to know what the world is and know what you’re doing. ...so to smash freedom you must smash truth.

...I think that’s right. Part of what fascist politics does is get people to disassociate from reality. You get them to sign on to this fantasy version of reality, usually a nationalist narrative about the decline of the country and the need for a strong leader to return it to greatness, and from then on their anchor isn’t the world around them — it’s the leader.

For another thing, I think the current movement of leaders who use these techniques (Vladimir Putin in Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, to name a few) all seek to keep the trappings of democratic institutions, but their goal is to reorient them around their own cult of personality. ...

Again, I wouldn’t claim — not yet, at least — that Trump is presiding over a fascist government, but he is very clearly using fascist techniques to excite his base and erode liberal democratic institutions, and that’s very troubling.

https://www.vox.com/2018/9/19/17847110/how-fascism-works-donald-trump-jason-stanley

For those who've never understood why some are so appalled by Bernie Sanders' movement on the left, in this time of great change and anxiety, his opposition to the Democratic Party (and indifference to who wins if it's not him) dangerously empowers the far more numerous and powerful fascistic conservative RWers.. LW sandersism aligns with Trump's Repub and religious right's messages that our liberal democracy is in decline and that Democrats fighting to protect it must be defeated. They differ greatly of course in who that leader is and whether universalist socialism or hierarchical fascism would make America great again, or finally. But no sensible person doubts America's increasingly fascistic RW would win that one and make the massive changes to our 250-year-old liberal democracy that both are rallying people to mostly blindly demand. Followers on both sides don't even begin to understand what's at stake, and neither camp is explaining that.

[RKP5637]

36. Well said!!! K&R!!! n/t

[cilla4progress]

39. Correlation with genocidal populations

In history. I do not put it past them.

[RKP5637]

41. I'm really fearful for the future and I don't scare easily. I think it will be an incredible living

hell if tRump is allowed to carry on and especially if elected again in 2020. One can be sure all stops are being pulled for cheating and whatever to make sure he is elected.

[meadowlander]

44. 6 should be anti-intellectualism.

Lack of intellectual curiosity and contempt for those that "think they know better" (i.e. actual experts) keeps them locked in a cycle of stubborn ignorance that fuels (3) Prejudice (4) Lack of intergroup contact and (5) relative deprivation and (7) increasing disconnection from reality.

[RKP5637]

49. Each day it feels like we're dealing with a massive black hole of anti-intellectualism! n/t

[UTUSN]

46. K&R for, left out A-hole Disorder

[Hermit-The-Prog]

47. it's the Russiapublican cult ...

[ck4829]

50. K&R

[Sea Glass]

57. I believe a lot of them try to cover up their deep-seated feelings of inferiority

by trying to build themselves up as superior to and more deserving than other groups, primarily brown people.

[RKP5637]

58. Yes, I think this is quite true!!! n/t

[VOX]

60. They flaunt their "School of Hard Knocks" status as if ignorance was a badge of honor.

"I didn't go to no government school to have my mind turned liberal, and I've homeschooled my kids so they don't have to mix with those damned @&!!@#%!!!"

And if THAT isn't self-compensating behavior, I'll eat two dozen MAGA hats.

[VOX]

59. In layperson's terms: isolated, fearful whites want a racist/fascist dictator who'll "own the libs."

And who'll turn a blind eye and cold heart to people of color, women, LGBT+, no matter the cost (in all regards).

I'm really sick of these backwater racists who've swallowed (unquestioningly) the bait, and impost their shitty, primitive, cartoonish beliefs on guns, religion, healthcare, science, education, international diplomacy, on and on. They're running the entire democracy into a ditch dug by their masters.

They're happy as clams when their "chosen one" insults, brags, and spews all over Democrats and progressives. Policy? They could give a shit.

They're just a small step away from screaming for blood.

[RKP5637]

61. Excellent description of them! "... backwater racists who've swallowed (unquestioningly) the bait...

There is no sense in talking about anything with them, they are high on their racism, bigotry, hatred and ugliness. I now carry intense and legal pepper spray with me all of the time, never did before. At least it provides some protection if some crazy attacks me. Often you can spot them a mile away. I do fear, as you've said, "They're just a small step away from screaming for blood."

[VOX]

62. We've had a "false reality" superimposed over our observable, fact-based reality.

The KGB-style disinformation burning up the RW social-radio-cable media is happening right now. It helped bring about Brexit, and it’s keeping Trump’s base charged up.

I just read an article in the New York Times about how Democrats are trying to respond to this specific issue, but the scope of the disinformation is massive:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/15/technology/2020-campaigns-disinformation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
2020 Campaigns Throw Their Hands Up on Disinformation

[RKP5637]

63. It's very sad, a "false reality" and sensationalized ... and witless people listening/viewing.

In essence, the perfect storm. We need a fact-based national clearing house of sorts, but really have none ... and would they listen, I doubt it. They have alternative sources now, but willfully believe and fall for propaganda.

[VOX]

67. Trumpists are *proud* of their ignorance and blind obedience.

They’re all too happy about not knowing a goddamned thing that occurs in measurable, observable REALITY.

[Blue_true]

64. Hillary talked about the fact that most jobs were being lost to automation.

I don't believe that she did it regularly enough, because it needs to be driven into people's heads that intelligent machines are taking their sales clerk jobs, or their bank teller jobs, or their customer service jobs, or their inventory management jobs, not our southern neighbors, who tend to take the hardest, lowest paying jobs.

[RKP5637]

65. Exactly!!! I think a fair number of people just do not get what is going on ... and some no matter

how many times they are told still won't get it.

[Blue_true]

66. If our party increase the number that get it, they should be somewhat

less susceptible to populist bullshit that demonize immigrants from our south.