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I have, in various contexts, described a Trump voter as stupid, dishonest, depraved, or any combination thereof. Not flattering, I admit, but I've yet to find anything to contradict that description - present company excepted, of course. But there is a broader, more scientific, description that describes the phenomenon that is Trumpism.
Many have described Trump devotees as "cultists", and that description is not inaccurate, because their devotion goes begging description, but it is incomplete. Some have called it "Trump Devotion Syndrome", but the psychological community provides a better understanding. "Five highly interrelated characteristics stand out that are central to a social psychological analysis – authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, outgroup prejudice, the absence of intergroup contact and relative deprivation.
"https://jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/jspp/article/view/4993/4993.html
"People who are opposed to Donald Trump being elected to serve as president of the United States likely believe that his supporters are weird—and vice versa. Trump stands out from other former and potential presidents, however, in terms of the number of crimes and moral misdeeds he has been accused of. Given this backdrop, we, as cognitive dissonance researchers, wondered what supporters of Trump would say when asked why they support him given his alleged crimes and misbehaviors. We assumed that most of his supporters are decent folks who would experience some dissonance from supporting a president who had been accused of so many misdeeds."
These researchers describe a pattern that many of us experience every day: “A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.”
A second study was conducted in December of 2019, two days after the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The reasons people gave for justifying their support at this point were similar to those observed in the previous study, with the addition of a new category: They stated they did not care about the allegations (“I don’t care about his sex life or what it does involve”). This latter response is similar to the dissonance reduction strategy that has been referred to as trivialization, or mentally reducing the importance of dissonant information (Simon et al., 1995).
In the third study, which was conducted two days after Trump was arraigned for election interference for his involvement in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, the justifications were similar to those given in the previous studies, but a new category emerged: Some who previously supported him no longer did (“After all of the hearings and as information came out, I lost respect for Trump. It was fine that he contested the results through the courts, but when the courts decided the election was fair, he should have accepted the results”). Dissonance reduction sometimes does involve changing one’s mind and learning from one’s mistakes. This way of reducing dissonance is likely common in life but not studied much within the field."
Many have described Trump devotees as "cultists", and that description is not inaccurate, because their devotion goes begging description, but it is incomplete. Some have called it "Trump Devotion Syndrome", but the psychological community provides a better understanding. "Five highly interrelated characteristics stand out that are central to a social psychological analysis – authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, outgroup prejudice, the absence of intergroup contact and relative deprivation.
"https://jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/jspp/article/view/4993/4993.html
"Trump loyalists are highly conscientious...
We identified individuals as Trump loyalists in terms of three aspects of Trump support: (1) belief in Trump as the legitimate winner of the 2020 election, (2) belief in Trump’s leadership abilities, and (3) belief that he has an elevated status that is frequently disrespected by the mainstream media. These Trump supporters comprised about 10 percent of all American adults and roughly one-third of Trump-voting Republicans in our total sample."Exploring the personality of Donald Trump's personality cult
Unscathed by all scandals, Donald Trump's popularity among his loyalists could still secure him another term as U.S. president. Why are these voters willing to ‘ride or die‘ with Trump? University of Vienna political philosopher Lars Moen examines the psychological roots.
"People who are opposed to Donald Trump being elected to serve as president of the United States likely believe that his supporters are weird—and vice versa. Trump stands out from other former and potential presidents, however, in terms of the number of crimes and moral misdeeds he has been accused of. Given this backdrop, we, as cognitive dissonance researchers, wondered what supporters of Trump would say when asked why they support him given his alleged crimes and misbehaviors. We assumed that most of his supporters are decent folks who would experience some dissonance from supporting a president who had been accused of so many misdeeds."
Why Voters Support Trump Despite His Alleged Misdeeds
Why do individuals continue to support Trump after he has been accused of so many illegal and immoral actions. We surveyed Trump supporters in 3 studies to find out.
These researchers describe a pattern that many of us experience every day: “A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.”
A second study was conducted in December of 2019, two days after the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The reasons people gave for justifying their support at this point were similar to those observed in the previous study, with the addition of a new category: They stated they did not care about the allegations (“I don’t care about his sex life or what it does involve”). This latter response is similar to the dissonance reduction strategy that has been referred to as trivialization, or mentally reducing the importance of dissonant information (Simon et al., 1995).
In the third study, which was conducted two days after Trump was arraigned for election interference for his involvement in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, the justifications were similar to those given in the previous studies, but a new category emerged: Some who previously supported him no longer did (“After all of the hearings and as information came out, I lost respect for Trump. It was fine that he contested the results through the courts, but when the courts decided the election was fair, he should have accepted the results”). Dissonance reduction sometimes does involve changing one’s mind and learning from one’s mistakes. This way of reducing dissonance is likely common in life but not studied much within the field."