For Trump supporters, delulu is the only solulu - Science reveals why they back him, no matter what
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "For Trump supporters, delulu is the only solulu - Science reveals why they back him, no matter what")
Why Donald Trump supporters do not leave him? Science has the answer. Photograph: (AFP)
Why do Donald Trump's supporters back him despite revelations about sexual misconduct, abuse and that he was close to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein? Scientists surveyed his backers to understand why, and found one common thing among them.
Donald Trump supporters live in their own delusional world, as three separate psychological research papers show that all of them have a common coping mechanism to keep backing their leader even when his lies and sexual abuse history are exposed. The papers were published together in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology. In October 2019, psychologists surveyed 128 adults who voted for Trump in the 2016 elections and asked them how they continued to back him even when things like rape allegations emerged. They all said they simply didn't believe them to be true. A second study was carried out in December 2019, two days after lawmakers voted to impeach Trump. Researchers talked to 173 MAGA supporters, and most of them outrightly denied the accusations against Trump, while some of them changed the topic and highlighted his policy decisions as president. Fifteen per cent of them said they don’t care. The last survey was done in 2022 after Trump was arraigned for playing a role in inciting the January 6 riots at the Capitol. More than 60 per cent of the participants said the accusations against him were not true.
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Denial of facts linked to anxiety triggered by cognitive dissonance
The researchers concluded that, in scientific terms, all three studies showed that denial of factual information is a psychological defence mechanism. This denial often functions as a direct response to the anxiety triggered by cognitive dissonance, where individuals subconsciously filter out information that goes against their established beliefs. Study author Cindy Harmon-Jones, senior lecturer in psychology at Western Sydney University, told PsyPost that the motivation behind carrying out the studies was to understand why people continued to support Trump despite being aware of the numerous sexual assault, corruption and illegal activities allegations against him.
Scientists want to see whether they would react the same way to Obama or Clinton
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The three studies used an open-ended questioning method, which meant that the Trump supporters had a lot more room to explain away their preconceived notions. Harmon-Jones said they now want to separate cognitive dissonance from questions linked to Trump and change the subject to see if the response follows the same line. “Would supporters of Barack Obama or Bill Clinton react similarly if they learned of similar accusations against them?” she posed to PsyPost. Trump was impeached twice during his first term, in 2019 and 2021. Calls are going for the use of the 25th Amendment to remove him as president following his rants and threats against Iran linked to the ongoing war.
