This Study Finds a Chilling Link Between Personality Type and Trump Support
Malevolent traits and reduced empathy go hand in hand.
"In the years since Donald Trump emerged as the face of American conservatism, psychologists have grappled with a vexing question: why do so many Americans remain loyal to a morally questionable leader? Donald Trump has made tens of thousands of false or misleading claims, he had an affair with an adult star, and consistently misused donations, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg; yet, he maintains a cult-like loyal following.
A new study, published this month in the Journal of Research in Personality, suggests part of the answer may lie deep within the personalities of his supporters.
The research, led by psychologist Craig Neumann of the University of North Texas, examined whether certain personality traits—those associated with callousness, manipulation, and even enjoyment of others’ suffering—correlate with conservative ideology and support for Trump. The findings are striking: people who view Trump favorably are more likely to score higher on measures of malevolent traits and lower on empathy and compassion."
[skip]
"The reverse also held true. Participants who scored higher on benevolent traits like humanism, faith in humanity, and respect for others tended to oppose Trump and lean politically liberal.
These patterns held across gender and racial groups, though there were key differences. White men who scored higher on psychopathic traits also showed stronger support for Trump and conservative ideology. Among men of minority status, however, psychopathy did not predict political ideology. This variation, researchers propose, could stem from differing lived experiences with social power, privilege, and marginalization.
The study also looked at empathy, and the findings were disturbing once again. Trump supporters reported significantly lower levels of affective empathy (emotional concern for others) and higher levels of dissonant empathy (enjoyment of others’ pain). Interestingly, their ability to understand how others feel (cognitive empathy) remained intact."
*****************************
My takeaway:
If you admire a person like Trump, who has been a cheat, a liar, and a fraudster his entire life, then perhaps you admire those traits in your fellow human beings, and you enjoy seeing a bully, like Trump, make people's lives miserable.
IMO, if you admire and are drawn to a person like Trump who's consistently shown himself to be without honor and human decency, then perhaps those qualities in a leader are attractive to you, and possibly are qualities that you share with Trump himself? I don't know. I'm not a psychologist.
But I DO know that Americans who continue to support Trump (after all we know about his appalling temperament and immoral behavior) are willfully blind because they either lack the moral courage to abandon their support of him; or, worse, they're as morally repugnant as he is.
16 comments:
Gee, another group to sue. We ponder whether the faithful followers learned the 3 R's as rage, revenge, religion. Empathy - they worship Noem, who shot her puppy when it kept barking. They delight it Homan, the reincarnation of
Jimmy Hoffa and believe RFK Jr. is a trained medical expert. We note their numbers are slowly (agonizingly) falling as 250 years of progress is torn to bits. Nuff said.
To me it simply says there are 80 million Americans lacking in either compassion, empathy, wisdom, or understanding and perhaps all four. As a result the pain and suffering of Americans will only increase expoentially and become more unbearable as time wears on.
Unless a tsunami of compassion and wisdom suddenly hits MAGA and clears them of their delusions and obscurations. And THAT is about as likely to happen as Jesus returning in earth.
So that is what happened to hoffa, I always heard is he is holding up a goal post at the Giants stadium. That is great news.
RFK has no medical training maybe that's the reason he questions food dyes and the quality of the ingredients in the food we buy including sugar in children food. His stance on vaccines is somewhat over the top. Maybe we should question our government more instead of just accepting what the government tells you what is good and will punish you if you don't fall in line or the democrat lemming effect.
We're different all right. We don't support virtue signaling "all talk no action" hypocrites. Democrats should change their party name from Democrats to Hypocrites.
Screw your imagined "virtue signaling", a concept dreamt up by white supremacist to switch the narative away from their white supremacy and racism.
Oh that is rich coming from someone who identifies as a MAGA and who believes Making America Great Again means putting into power a serial adulterer, convicted felon & sexual assaulter who was mixed up and partied with (for 15+years) two notorious child sex traffickers & rapists — Trump! Trump, who’s the idol of Evangelical Christians! Y’know the hypocrite who sold gold Chinese autographed Bibles, sneakers, perfume, and other signed cheap Chinese trash to his marks while pretending he, a billionaire, understands and cares about them!
Trumps past debaucheries, lying, cheating, and fraud make him a perfect representative of what has become of the Republican Party.
Bingo!
There is no debating with fascists aka our local trolls. I've tried. Y'all have tried. Over and over we've provided our trolls exactly what our platform entails only for them claim we don't stand for anything except our hatred of Epstein's wing man. So, no more debate from me.
Fascists support Epstein's wing man which means by extension they support the SA and human trafficking of children. If that means our local trolls are fascists? Well, it's on them to prove me incorrect but based on their replies or lack thereof, well... ?
I read today's post earlier and meditated deeply on the topic before posting. I decided I'm OK with not having empathy for the fascists. I'm OK with feeling a lack of mercy or pity for the consequences of their own actions because they've proven beyond doubt that they will not extend the same courtesy.
What does provide hope are the kids who have a good command of the interwebz. They are quick and clever and have not one f*ck left to give. And they are brutal in their skill at reading for filth the those trying to take over our country. I've not laughed (and coughed) and laughed so hard. All that laughter could be why my cough is finally subsiding.
I'm sure our trolls won't see themselves as a fascist but really, their words are all we know them by and they've yet to distance themselves from the FOTUS admin and it's past (and possibly current - could be a reason they don't want the list released!) SA and trafficking of children. I guess they are making too much money to think beyond their pocketbook.
Right Skud. I remember how Republicans were all on board when Mayor Bloomberg wanted to ban 48 oz. Big Gulps. Or how Repubs pushed for more school funding so they wouldn't need to put in soda vending machines as a revenue source. Food dyes have been a concern since the 70's and wasn't it great how R's stood up against the snack producers lobby. Let's not forget how R's championed Michelle Obamas' cause to get kids to move and make healthy food choises.
Of course your party has fought those efforts to promote healthy foods in the name of "freedom" until now. Does that qualify as hypocrasy, FJ?
You're right, Trump's not a hypocrite. He grabs women by their p*ssies and uses objects like gold sneakers to signal his virtues, not noble sounding words that are never kept. The words that come out of Trumps mouth reveal his actual intentions, not moral shibboleths.
Well skud, of course we should. But when they are idiots, then what? I'm not talking differing political views or stances. I'm talking about stuff like vaccines. You at least admit RFK is over the top. But here's the problem. There are millions of people, you included I assume, who believe he's qualified to head of the US Health and Human Services Department.
He's not. Anyone who says "No vaccine is safe", and that vaccines "cause autism" including the vaccines that ended polio, measles, small pox and more in the US and many countries around the world, is not qualified for that position. He's said parents need to do their own research on vaccines. What does that even mean? Perform our own testing? Or watch YouTube?
I'm all for skepticism on some things. Less sugar and less dyes is a good thing. But anyone who thinks RFK is qualified to lead HHS, based on his own words that he has tried to disavow, is not credible.
Grey said... "There is no debating with fascists aka our local trolls."
So true Grey.
Because the trolls are not interested in dialogue, nuance in discussion or, for the most part, facts.
When the Dems control the POTUS both houses and SCOTUS, FJ will have a legitmate complaint. Til then he is blowin in the wind.
Shaw... since skud brought up vaccines, here's a few words from, Jerome Adams, the US Surgeon General during the Trump Admin when the Mrna vaccine was conceived and produced...
"I was in “the room where it happens” during the harrowing early days of the covid-19 pandemic. I witnessed the birth of Operation Warp Speed, a triumph of American ingenuity that harnessed mRNA technology to halt a predicted tidal wave of death and despair. President Donald Trump rightly called Operation Warp Speed 'one of the greatest miracles in the history of modern-day medicine.' A Commonwealth Fund study credits the operation with averting 3 million U.S. deaths and preventing more than 18 million hospitalizations in just its first two years. This historic feat positioned the United States as the global leader in biomedical innovation."
Speaking of the current trump Admin and the skepticism, which skud seems to admire, Adams says this...
"There is a clear pattern of insidious spread of fearmongering and misinformation emanating from the highest echelons of our nation’s health research agencies [HHS under RFK]."
The fearmongering and misinformation from folks like RFK, -FJ and skudlike MAGA fans are exactly what has real real scientists and trained medical professionals baffled.
And sadly, none of the skeptics ever offers any real, peer reviewed evidence.
And so our country suffers.
David, I guess by your response you just fall in line and do what the government says is best for you. That is admirable but sad. Take a look at the syphilis trials where the government said it was safe.
Yes, I question everything including vaccines which I support but still question. If trump was not in power the vaccine would still be under testing because at no time has the government speed trialed a drug. Is it perfect , of course not and there have been problems. You deny people the right to do what they say is in Their best interest because if the don't march in step they are abandoned. I always gave you more credit that to be a line up lemming.
RFK, Jr., has extolled the virtues of drinking raw milk, which in turn encouraged Florida's surgeon general to recommend that insanity.
Maybe RFK, Jr., and Florida's surgeon general (and DeSantis, who appointed him), are actually trying to thin out certain gullible populations by recommending this highly risky and STUPID idea of drinking raw milk.
Florida surgeon general says he supports raw milk consumption after 21 sickened
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida’s top health official took to social media to voice his support for residents consuming unpasteurized milk “for potential health benefits and protective factors.”
“Floridians have the freedom to make informed health choices,” Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo said in a post on X. “I support the decision to consume raw milk when sought for potential health benefits and protective factors. Be aware of your source and know the risks.”
Ladapo’s comments come just days after the Florida Department of Health reported that 21 people – including six children under age 10 – were sickened by E. coli infections connected to a raw milk producer in New Smyrna Beach. Seven people have been hospitalized since January.
Here are the key risks associated with drinking raw milk:
Foodborne Illnesses: Raw milk can be contaminated with dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter, Brucella, Yersinia, and Mycobacterium bovis. These can cause serious illnesses, sometimes referred to as "food poisoning."
Symptoms: Common symptoms of raw milk-related illnesses include diarrhea (sometimes bloody), stomach cramps, vomiting, fever, headache, and body aches.
Severe Complications: In some cases, these infections can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening complications like Guillain-Barré syndrome (causing paralysis), hemolytic uremic syndrome (leading to kidney failure), or even death.
Vulnerable Populations are at Higher Risk: The risks of becoming seriously ill from raw milk are particularly elevated for:
Children (especially those under five years of age)
Older adults
Pregnant women: Listeria, a bacteria often found in raw milk, can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infections in newborns.
Individuals with weakened immune systems (e.g., those with cancer, HIV/AIDS, or who have undergone organ transplants)
The MAGA movement in this country is trying to drag their gullibles back to the 16th century: No vaccines; drinking raw milk, using a horse medication to fight the plague!
No doubt, Trumpism is on the march to make people dumber, sicker, and prone to snake oil charlatans, like the current president.
Post a Comment