Social Psychology Sheds Light on the Troubles of Trump Supporters
Followers of President Trump are in a psychologically difficult situation.

Kermit the Frog used to lament, �It�s not easy being green.� Well, it�s not
easy being a fan of President Trump these days, and I�m not referring to
his sinking poll numbers. There are deeper problems, issues that are
elucidated and illuminated by some now-classic insights of social
psychology. To whit:

1. Cognitive Dissonance. First explored and named by Leon Festinger in the
1950s, it�s a simple yet powerful concept. Basically, people find it
mentally painful (dissonant) to hold two contrary notions at the same time,
especially if they refer to one�s self-perception. Most of us think of
ourselves as, if not brilliant, at least acceptably smart. What to do if we
find ourselves doing something stupid? One possibility is to deny that we
did it. Another (easier to pull off) is to deny that it is stupid;
otherwise, we�re stuck with some unpleasant dissonance. And so, many people
go to great lengths to justify an action, tying themselves into some
extraordinary knots to keep up appearances�even if just to themselves.

In their book, Mistakes Were Made, But Not by Me, psychologists Elliot
Aronson and Carol Tavris tell some revealing stories. For example, members
of the doomsday cult Heaven�s Gate believed that the Hale Bopp comet would
be followed by an alien spaceship that would rescue true believers such as
themselves from imminent catastrophe. They pooled their money and bought a
fancy telescope with which to observe the great event but shortly
thereafter attempted to return the telescope, claiming it was defective
because they couldn�t see the spaceship. And after that, they died by
suicide, but not because they were denied getting their money back.

Trump believers may be similarly stuck. They have hitched their conceptual
wagon to their leader�s claim that COVID isn�t serious, that the US is
doing a �great job� defeating it, and that basic public health responses
such as social distancing and masks aren�t very important. All these claims
are no more real than the nonexistent rocket ship Heaven�s Gaters.
Admittedly, they haven�t directly committed suicide, but their actions are
clearly dangerous to self and others, and in some cases, tantamount to
suicide. Anything to avoid cognitive dissonance.

2. The Marshmallow Test. Here is another well-established social psych
concept, although one that has been critiqued in certain respects. But for
our purposes, let�s take it at face value. The basic idea, developed by
Walter Mischel, is that a young child is offered one marshmallow and told
that if they refrain from eating it for, say, 10 minutes, they will then
get two. The experimenter then leaves the room and, upon returning, notes
whether the child has eaten the treat, or showed restraint. Each subject
having been thus scored, they are examined years�ideally, decades�later,
with the basic finding that those who delayed gratification did better on a
variety of socio-economic measures: higher educational attainment, more
social and economic success, and so forth.

The bottom line for our times is that much of the U.S., notably the Trump
devotees, have resoundingly failed the Marshmallow Test. Encouraged by
their leader, and giving full reign to their marshmallow craving, they just
couldn�t bear the delay urged by responsible public health authorities.
They eagerly �opened up,� and now they, and their potentially more
responsible fellow Americans, are paying the price, as COVID cases spike in
those states and communities that lacked suitable restraint.

3. Obedience to Authority. Another renowned social psych insight comes from
the famous study conducted by Stanley Milgram in which a large proportion
of otherwise normal and presumably empathic volunteers, who thought they
were participating in a teaching experiment, were found willing to subject
their �experimental subjects� to what would have been painful and even
possibly lethal electric shocks. Of course, the volunteers were themselves
the real subjects and the �shocks� weren�t genuine. Milgram's research,
conducted in the aftermath of the Second World War and Hitler�s death
camps, sought to illuminate whether the willingness of seemingly �good
Germans� to go along with the Nazi �final solution,� was an aberration or
somehow related to a flaw in the German national character (whatever that
means).
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Milgram�s disconcerting finding�confirmed in various ways by other
researchers�was that obedience to authority is, alas, widespread. It is
unknown what proportion of border agents and ICE personnel are Trump
supporters, but a reasonable guess suggests that it is relatively high; if
so, then it is not surprising that so many have obediently participated in
cruelly separating families, and subjecting even young children to
conditions suggestive of concentration camps (although thankfully, not
literal genocide).

4. The Frustration-Aggression Connection. Dollard et al demonstrated many
years ago that there is a deep connection between frustration and
aggression. Although it is clear that not all frustration leads to
aggression, and not all aggression is generated by frustration, the
correspondence has remained robust. One of the most potent political
appeals of candidate and now President Trump has been to the frustration of
his followers: frustration that �their country� is being taken over by
others who are ethnically, religiously, socially, and in various other ways
different from themselves, that for the first time in American history, the
prospect no longer beckons that the children of the white working-class
have prospects that are less appealing than their own, that they themselves
have not been receiving the deference they believe they deserve, and so
forth.

In summary: frustrations galore. And not surprisingly, Trump�s appeal to
his frustrated base has relied heavily on his own expressed aggression:
lock her up, don�t take care to avoid head injuries when you throw a
suspect into a police van, punch protestors (I�ll pay your legal bills if
you do). In short, aggression as a response to and outlet for frustration.

Sad to say, there is more, such as the �fundamental attribution error,�
whereby behavior by others viewed as undesirable (e.g., Black Lives Matter
protesters) is seen as indicating their nasty, violent, unpatriotic nature,
thereby justifying a response (e.g., violent and abusive treatment by
police, National Guard, and even the regular U.S. military of
overwhelmingly nonviolent people exercising their constitutional rights as
something regrettably forced upon �us,� the good guys).
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Also the curious susceptibility of many people to charismatic �strong man"
leaders, which risks inducing them to follow these leaders even to their
own detriment. Most of Donald Trump�s policies have in fact done great harm
to the well-being of many of his most ardent supporters, whereupon only a
small minority have been inclined or able to separate themselves from their
adherence.

I am not optimistic that those Americans whose psychology has rendered them
most captive to President Trump will disenthrall themselves. Asked why the
great majority of Republican office-holders continue to express�at least
publicly�support for the president, a senior Republican strategist (who
insisted on anonymity) answered that it was �a choice between staying on
this hell-ship or jumping overboard and drowning.�

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/peace-and-war/202007/social-
psychology-sheds-light-the-troubles-trump-supporters

Ryan <X@Y.com> wrote:
>
> Social Psychology Sheds Light on the Troubles of Trump Supporters
> Followers of President Trump are in a psychologically difficult situation.
> […]
> https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/peace-and-war/202007/social-
> psychology-sheds-light-the-troubles-trump-supporters

What does a Trump's expert say about VP Harris followers? :-)

--
A. Filip
| Entropy requires no maintenance. (Markoff Chaney)

>What does a Trump's expert say about VP Harris followers? :-)
>

Says they're completely sane and genuine Americans.

Ryan <X@Y.com> wrote:
>>What does a Trump's expert say about VP Harris followers? :-)
>
> Says they're completely sane and genuine Americans.

Do you try to overload my irony detector? :-)

--
| Show me a good loser in professional sports and I'll show you an
| idiot. Show me a good sportsman and I'll show you a player I'm
| looking to trade. (Leo Durocher)

>Ryan <X@Y.com> wrote:
>>>What does a Trump's expert say about VP Harris followers? :-)
>>
>> Says they're completely sane and genuine Americans.
>
>Do you try to overload my irony detector? :-)

What? Is she a felon and a corrupt compulsive liar like the fat insane one?

At least she's sane and makes sense when she speaks. Trumpers know that
because it's axiomatic. They just hate women and black people.

A Complete Psychological Analysis of Trump's Support

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.�
A 2017 study found a direct link between national collective narcissism
and support for Donald Trump.
A 2016 survey of 406 US adults found that those who scored high on both
SDO and authoritarianism were more likely to vote for Trump.

,alt.politics.trump,talk.politics.guns

Veterans have accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of “embellishing” his military career and abandoning his National Guard battalion, highlighting that the now-vice presidential pick for the Democrats never served in combat and retired from service ahead of his unit’s 2005 deployment to Iraq.

In a letter posted to Facebook in 2018 as he first ran for governor, retired Command Sergeants Major Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr said Walz retired from his 24-year tenure in the National Guard after learning that his battalion would

“On May 16th, 2005, [Walz] quit, betraying his country, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war,” Behrends and Herr wrote.

Walz, 60, wrapped his military career just in time for him to launch his political career the following year, successfully running for Congress in 2006.

https://nypost.com/2024/08/06/us-news/tim-walz-embellished-military-career-for-years-dropped-from-national-guard-unit-ahead-of-iraq-deployment/

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz falsely claimed that he carried weapons “in war” in a resurfaced clip that JD Vance blasted this week as another example of the Democratic vice presidential candidate using “stolen valor.”

Kamala Harris’ running mate made the remarks in a resurfaced 2018 clip shared by his gubernatorial campaign on social media, as he counseled a crowded room about gun violence.

“We can research the impacts of gun violence. We can make sure those weapons of war, that I carried in war, are only carried in war,” Walz, 60, can be heard saying.

Critics were quick to point out that Walz, who retired from the National Guard in 2005, never actually served in a combat zone.

“Walz did make a comment speaking to a group, he’s done it a couple of times, where he has used language that has suggested that he carried weapons in a fighting situation,” CNN’s Jake Foreman said.

“I know from coming from a military family there is a difference between being in a combat area, being involved at a time of war, and actually being in a position where people are shooting at you,” he added.

“There is no evidence that at any time Governor Walz was in a position of being shot at, and some of his language could easily be seen to suggest he was, so that is absolutely false.”

https://nypost.com/2024/08/08/us-news/tim-walz-falsely-claimed-he-carried-weapons-in-war-in-resurfaced-clip-absolutely-false/

"Ryan" <X@Y.com> wrote in message news:vb5skp$36o35$1@dont-email.me...
>
> Social Psychology Sheds Light on the Troubles of Trump Supporters
> Followers of President Trump are in a psychologically difficult situation.

After ignoring the mental ineptitude of Biden.. I don't have much faith in
the 'experts' as to their honesty and standards.

On Tue, 3 Sep 2024 09:21:35 -0500, "Scout"
<me4guns@verizon.removeme.this2.nospam.net> wrote:

>
>
>"Ryan" <X@Y.com> wrote in message news:vb5skp$36o35$1@dont-email.me...
>>
>> Social Psychology Sheds Light on the Troubles of Trump Supporters
>> Followers of President Trump are in a psychologically difficult situation.
>
>After ignoring the mental ineptitude of Biden.. I don't have much faith in
>the 'experts' as to their honesty and standards.
>
>

Biden isn't mentally inept. It's a physical problem with expression.

Still, it's good he's leaving. We don't need a disabled President any more then
we need the freak we had before Biden.

--
#NEVERtrump

A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fatally shooting another man during a dispute over liquor and cigarettes.

Payton Lee Wood, 23, told police he shot the wrong person in the July 1, 2022 incident. He claimed he intended to shoot a man who had threatened him with a knife during a dispute on the 600 block of Dale Street, but instead ended up shooting the man's friend, 59-year-old Jeffrey Foss.

Wood pleaded guilty to the unintentional murder charge in May.

The criminal complaint says surveillance footage showed Wood get into an altercation with the knife-wielding man before the man is seen running away alongside Foss. Wood then fired a single shot towards the other man, but struck Foss in the back of the head.

Wood later told investigators Foss and the other man were caught "going through liquor bottles and cigarettes." He initially claimed self-defense, stating that Foss was only five feet away from him when he fired the gun, but a police investigation determined the men were 80-90 feet away when Wood opened fire.

Wood also didn't have a legal permit to own a gun, the complaint says.

The 23-year-old was initially charged with two counts of 2nd-degree murder. The intentional murder charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty.

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/st-paul-man-gets-12-years-for-fatal-shooting-after-liquor-cigarette-dispute

A man has been found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for a fatal shooting that happened on a Metro Transit light rail platform in St. Paul in 2022.

Shawn Michael Tillman, 35, was found guilty of 1st- and 2nd-degree murder, as well as illegal firearm possession. The two-week trial concluded on Monday.

The life sentence will be served without the possibility of parole.

The shooting killed Demitri Ellis-Strong on May 20, 2022 around 4:15 a.m.

“Mr. Tillman committed the most heinous of crimes and we are pleased that justice was served," Metro Transit Police Chief Ernest Morales III said in a statement.

"I want to applaud the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office for their partnership and diligent work to reach this outcome. I also want to extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Ellis-Strong. While this does not ease the pain of losing a loved one in such a tragic manner, I hope the assurance that his killer will remain behind bars for the rest of his life will bring a small sense of closure."

https://bringmethenews.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_700/MjA1Mjk5NTk5OTU3NTY3NDQ0/shawn-tillman.webp
Shawn Michael Tillman. Ramsey County Jail

According to the criminal complaint, it happened at the Green Line station near Fifth and Minnesota streets. Ellis-Strong was found lying on the light rail platform, suffering from several gunshot wounds to the head and torso. He was pronounced dead minutes after medics attempted to provide life-saving support.

A witness at the scene told police he heard two gunshots followed by two more gunshots. He said he saw a man stand over Ellis-Strong and shoot him three times with a handgun before fleeing on foot.

Investigators learned that the shooter, later identified as Tillman, had "beef" with Ellis-Strong prior to the shooting.

Surveillance footage captured the incident take place, showing Tillman raising a handgun at Ellis-Strong before firing at him. Ellis-Strong then stumbles back and falls on the ground before Tillman shoots him two more times. He then walks over and shoots Ellis-Strong three more times.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner said Ellis-Strong died of six gunshot wounds.

Prior to the murder, Tillman had been a suspect in two indecent exposure cases and a criminal sexual conduct case.

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/man-sentenced-to-life-for-heinous-light-rail-station-murder-in-st-paul

Democrat Zoo Creatures wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

> <snip>

Go see a psychiatrist, man!

--
Nine megs for the secretaries fair,
Seven megs for the hackers scarce,
Five megs for the grads in smoky lairs,
Three megs for system source;
One disk to rule them all,
One disk to bind them,
One disk to hold the files
And in the darkness grind 'em.

In article <vb9fs1$3qjnc$1@dont-email.me>, OFeem1987@teleworm.us says...
>
> Democrat Zoo Creatures wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:
>
> > <snip>

Cowardly snipped.
>
> Go see a psychiatrist, man!