Good article on the mentality of tRump's supporters...

[BigmanPigman]

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-positivity/202009/john-deans-authoritarian-nightmare

Dean and Altemeyer estimate a faithful Trump base of 50 million people. In the book, they state most of them have one of two scientifically established authoritarian personality traits or are members of a unique group that combines both.

These people score highly as:
Social Dominators: People who believe in inequality between groups and think their own should control others, collectively and even individually on a person-to-person basis. Donald Trump, they assert, appears to be an The example of a social dominator.

Authoritarian Followers: People who are submissive, fearful, and longing for a mighty leader who will protect them from life's threats. Their ethnocentrism is often based on religious training and they have been found to exhibit self-righteousness.

Double Highs: People who score highly as both a Social Dominator and an Authoritarian Follower, which, as Dean and Altemeyer state, at first seems confusing because that would make them dominating submissives. They offer two examples of how this can happen: a dominating person can strongly believe in other people submitting to authorities if they themselves are the authorities, another example is submissive people who endorse their group's superiority over others as an extra level of protection.

The glue that holds all these people and his coalition together, the underlying feeling, is prejudice. That was the thing that jumped out also in the Monmouth poll is how deep and strong the prejudice is in these people. They are anti-'the other' on so many issues. They get reinforced feelings when they go to Trump rallies, for example, and they see people who are thinking and feeling like they do, they find a comfort level in all this".

A great deal of research over the decades reveals that Evangelicals usually score quite highly on the RWA scale. Thus, when the Republican Party actively recruited religious conservatives, it was simultaneously filling itself up with highly prejudiced authoritarian followers. Given that fact, one could predict from the outset that a dominating authoritarian leader like Donald Trump would appeal to Evangelicals."

***More at the link...

[GusBob]

1. There's a political term for this psychology IMO

" negative partinsonship " not so much voting for someone but against the other

The pollster Bitecofer uses this theory in her election predictions She accurately predicted 2018 results. You can guess whom she has for 2020

Anger is an energy so to speak

There was an exit poll after a primary vote in some state that asked what the number one motivation for voting in the election . It was anger

[cilla4progress]

4. Who

Is she predicting in 2020?

[GusBob]

20. She has Biden plus

I think 4-6 Senate seats

I heard her on the radio she is funny and profane. She has a whole new outlook and methodogy of forecasting, look her up.

Rachel Bitecofer

[cilla4progress]

22. I think I saw her on

O'Donnell but haven't read about her in a while.

[smirkymonkey]

2. K&R

[octoberlib]

3. I'm reading Dean's book now and it's so

interesting. I was already familiar with Professor Bob Altemeyer’s research on authoritarians and their followers . His PDF has been making the rounds among Democratic politicians for years. https://theauthoritarians.org/Downloads/TheAuthoritarians.pdf

[AZ8theist]

5. What about the fucking NAZIs who just want to murder fellow citizens???

The knuckle dragging mouth breathers are all good with a civil war.

The stupidity of these morons is this: If they get rid of ALL OF THE "OTHERS", they STILL will not be accepted into the circle of the rich 1%.

[OldBaldy1701E]

7. You are exactly right.

However, it is tough to undo 60 years of brainwashing. They have had their minds erased by corporate and political propaganda and there has been little done to address it.

VOTE THEM ALL OUT!

[MyOwnPeace]

6. Good stuff!

I've truly wondered "HOW IN THE HELL!" could ANYBODY vote for that pig?

[William Seger]

8. "Authoritarian Followers"

I've always said that trumpers remind me of the kids who followed the schoolyard bully around.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Authoritarians always give their followers a lower group for them to kick and spit on

President Johnson knew that the Nixon and the Republicons would go this route after the Civil Rights and Voting acts, as their Southern Strategy

[dalton99a]

15. The best description of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

[Peccadillo]

10. Also worth reading...Compartmentalization: Mindset of Authoritarian Voters

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/machiavellians-gulling-the-rubes/202010/compartmentalization-the-mindset-authoritarian-voters

Among other things, explains why hard-right evangelicals have no qualms in violating Christian ethics in support of a Trump.

[Shermann]

11. No, Double High isn't quite right

In my travels in the conservative world, I've found there's a group in the middle that are very intelligent and are neither the social dominators nor the authoritarian followers. They know they are being played and are fully aware of the propaganda, but see the dominators as being on their side and far better than the alternative. So they are mostly bystanders who will play the game when called upon and help circle the wagons and parrot the propaganda. They masquerade as both dominators and followers, but that's not what is happening. I believe this is a very large group over there.

[OneGrassRoot]

13. Is it purely about $$ for them, do you think? n/t

[Shermann]

16. If I may speak from the Republican perspective a bit...

The Republican Party has always done quite well attracting business owners, small and large. There is a certain anxiety that comes with owning a business. Many have taken on debt to start these businesses, and most startups are doomed to fail (statistically speaking). So these individuals are going to be vehemently opposed to anything and everything that reduces their chances of success in any way. Taxes, regulations, foreign competition, whatever. They essentially become single-issue voters, and you can't argue in good faith that this anxiety is totally unjustified.

So yes it is about $$$, but you need to look at the full picture to understand the mentality.

[Progressive Jones]

19. They know what they're getting into when they start a business.

I knew it, so did everyone else.

Nobody is entitled to success in business. So many think they are.

[Shermann]

21. Is it entitlement? Is it anxiety?

Can't it be both?

Once you win this group over, then the employees are going to largely follow suit. What employee is going to vote for one party if the owner of the company they work for asserts that the other party will help their business flourish a lot more?

This coupling works in the Republicans' interests. This is one of the reasons they like employers to be health care providers.

I started a failed business in the late 2000's and lost 100% of my investment. I don't agree with this mentality, but I get it.

What worries me is that this kind of anxiety can only be exacerbated during a pandemic.

[Progressive Jones]

24. Great points, Shermann. nt

[OneGrassRoot]

26. Thank you, and I do understand what you're saying...

I have been an entrepreneur for 30 years, with success and failures. The difference, however, is that I've always been a social entrepreneur -- keeping social and environmental responsibility in mind and keen awareness of impact on and service to community. So, like you and others here, no doubt, we see the larger benefit of certain regulation, taxes, workers' rights, etc.

I think it's a wider vs more narrow-minded worldview behind how one does business.

[Volaris]

23. Beat me to it.

[Fyrefox]

12. The true believers...

Trump supporters drink deeply from the same cup of poison. Anger and hatred of different values and different others energizes and is a powerful force, but ultimately it destroys those who participate in it and leaves a shattered society in its wake...

[dalton99a]

14. "The glue that holds all these people together is prejudice - deep and strong"

Fuck them

[Yeehah]

17. Weak-minded people who think their immutable characteristics make them better than others

and cowards who need a "strong man" leader to keep them safe from the big, bad world.

In other words, a bunch of stupid, cowardly scumbag racist fascists - today's republican party.

[Progressive Jones]

25. Even at that, what has Trump done to keep anyone safe?

He let a deadly virus get out of control. He hasn't been tested militarily. He's pissed off strong allies.

Some "strong man".

[dragonlady]

28. We are extremely lucky

that he has not been tested militarily.

[Progressive Jones]

31. That would be the most nightmarish situation I could imagine. nt

[Silent3]

18. It's still tough for me to go from the generalities of authoritarian personalities...

...to the particular detail in our country's case of Trump being the one our authoritarians line up to fall behind.

Trumps definitely expresses the RWA's prejudices and grievances. Check.

For those whose idea of "strength" is primitive dominance displays, the kind that would work with among chimpanzees and some other primates, I can see why Trump is considered a "strong" leader. I just didn't realize so many people operated at such a primitive level, however.

Then there's not having the minimal awareness to see what a buffoon Trump is. That's where I'm really scratching my head. His stupidity is obvious. His lies are transparent. His insults are childish. I mystified that so many people would choose such a person as a the person to represent themselves, and to express such glowing pride in.

[BigmanPigman]

27. They make me embarrassed to be an American.

I don't want to be related or associated with them in any way, shape or form. Their lack of integrity, character, decency and respect is disgusting. I am thoroughly repulsed by them.

[Yavin4]

29. "People who believe in inequality between groups ..."

"and think their own should control others, collectively and even individually on a person-to-person basis". In a word, Facists which is a political ideology that the in-group should dominate the out-group through martial forces (the military, the police, etc.).

[kairos12]

30. The dangerous authoritarian strain of American thinking has been around

since our founding. The Anti-Mason leagues, anti-Catholic organizations, the anti-semites, never mind the racists. The Klan used to number in the tens of millions. Others (Italians, Irish, etc) have always been targeted in this country. The politics of intolerance and hate has always had a truly evil and faithful following. Also, easily exploitable.

What makes this strain so deadly is the advent of media, and especially social media. In the past it was difficult for all these hate organizations to wield power and develop a single, collective mind-set and establish an agreed upon agenda. Social Media is an incredible echo chamber that force multiples the hate like a devil designed evil contaminated Petri dish.

Sacha Baron Cohen is right. If Hitler was around today FB would be posting his advertising by the second.

[Poiuyt]

32. Kick for later reading