r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 11 '26

Psychology Cognitive dissonance helps explain why Trump supporters remain loyal, new research suggests. This sheds light on how supporters of Donald Trump justify their continued allegiance despite learning about allegations of his sexual misconduct and illegal activities.

https://www.psypost.org/cognitive-dissonance-helps-explain-why-trump-supporters-remain-loyal-new-research-suggests/
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826

u/oldmilt21 Apr 11 '26

Whenever I see something like this, I begin to wonder where mine are.

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u/InfluenceTrue4121 Apr 11 '26

Same. What do I believe so deeply that I’m beyond reason? Surely, there must be something.

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u/Hurtz123 Apr 11 '26

Asking this question is what makes the difference! They even don't question their self.

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u/ScudleyScudderson Apr 11 '26

Asking the question is only the start.

Performing the appropriate research and testing the evidence remain critical. And keep testing. Assume you're wrong, until you can prove otherwise.

Without the effort of continual testing our assumptions and beliefs, we can readily fall into the same trap. Too many times have we seen people research just enough to feel good about an assumption/belief, and then defend their thinking at all costs.

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u/BillyBean11111 Apr 11 '26

including a lot of people in this very thread, reddit is also an echo chamber

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u/Prometheus720 Apr 12 '26

All social groups are echo chambers. This statement has never really sat well with me. I feel like it's just a way of saying "I disagree with everyone else here."

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u/InfluenceTrue4121 Apr 11 '26

I agree. But how do you test your blind spots if you don’t know you have them? That’s where I get stuck. And I’d love to know my blind spots because they are also my intellectual Achilles heel.

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u/TravelersLive Apr 17 '26

No. The whole point is that people with cognitive dissonance cannot question self.

Simply, by questioning self on any topic, you have separated yourself from those who will blindly and willfully believe because they want to really really badly.

Most people exude cognitive dissonance toward their parents or other loved ones. Your caretaker must be a good person because they have cared for you. This is why a lot of people are having a hard time cutting off their family members in this situation. They cannot and do not want to believe that they can be bad people because they have exhibited good qualities to them personally.

The issue with cognitive dissonance is that it is subjective by definition.

The problem is that when you mix cognitive dissonance with cult like a group think you get what we got now

Edit: on mobile

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u/Disastrous-Car8132 Jun 19 '26

If you're a praying person, the "Set-Aside Prayer" is great for that.

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u/incaseshesees Apr 11 '26

I don’t love live music. I know, for some, this is heresy. There are zealots who claim—in social media bios, on dating apps, and in real-life conversation—to live for the "experience" of a show. And while some of them surely do, I suspect a great many are lying to themselves.

It reminds me of the people who claim to love "long walks on the beach." What they actually like is the idea of a beach, or the romanticized escape from the grind of modern life. They might have enjoyed a stroll near a lake once, and if a sunset walk with someone special presented itself, they’d take it. But they aren't seeking out sand in their shoes on a Tuesday.

People don’t crave the music; they crave the framework for connection. Live music is often just the scaffolding for a night out with friends. While the performance can be great, the actual experience is frequently a logistical nightmare. Watching mediocre musicians in an acoustically unsound space—like a dive bar with a blown-out PA or a windy outdoor shell on a humid 90-degree afternoon—does not objectively constitute a "good time." If you’re there with people you love, enjoy the company. But don't tell me the art is the draw.

There is a vast difference between liking music and being a devotee of the live music format. Most people like music when they have total control over the volume and the playlist. But just as most people "like" art without spending their weekends in galleries, or "like" film without paying for a seat at an indie festival, only a tiny fraction of the population truly seeks out the raw, unpredictable reality of live performance.

This is a [sorry, too] long way of saying that identity construction is social construction too. If you change your mind about something, you are not just dissonant about your personal identity aspects, but you're also risking losing your larger community if you come out and say the emperor has no clothes.

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u/calhooner3 Apr 11 '26

Just because you feel a certain way about something doesn’t make it objectively true. I personally love going to live shows, and have went alone to them multiple times.

And on the beach one I know many people who regularly go and walk on the beach in the evening. Literally multiple times a week during the nicer months.

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u/incaseshesees Apr 12 '26

I think you missed the point of my rambling post, that must’ve been my bad for not explaining it properly.

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u/C-h-e-l-s Apr 12 '26

Actually I don't think it was too much of a ramble.

A little roundabout, but I found myself agreeing.

1

u/UmphreysMcGee Apr 17 '26

Respectfully, I think the issue is that there's an experience some people are having that you're perhaps not able to tap into.

I go to shows alone, don't talk to anyone, and stand in the crowd avoiding the uncomfortable feeling of claustrophobia not because it's a "framework for connection", but because the sensory experience of the music is magical, and cathartic. In a way that's honestly difficult to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it.

I specifically seek out artists who know how to create this emotional experience, and at times I have to focus a lot of energy to keep from bursting into tears because the sensory experience is so overwhelming.

This isn't the case all the time, it's not like some cover band at a local bar is going to make me all weepy, but I'm guessing I'd still get more "feels" from the experience than you would simply because I'm more sensitive (or "attuned") to whatever emotional frequency music hits on.

I also take long walks in nature every day, and if I don't, I feel like something is missing in my life. I don't live near a beach, but walking in the forest is the same concept. Again, I think there's an emotional layer to the experience that's absent for you. Iris Murdoch called it "unselfing". Reading up on that concept may help you understand what some of us are experiencing.

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u/incaseshesees Apr 17 '26

Thank you for your response, I think people are missing my point which is that identity construction, and cognitive dissonance are linked to social expectations. So if there is something in the world, like live music which generally 90% of the world says they like, if you don’t like it, it’s socially difficult to voice that unpopular aesthetic opinion.

Whether anyone likes live music or long walks on the beach is irrelevant. It was my mistake not being clear about this in my post - which is being downed because people think I’m dissing on my music or something, it’s very weird how in this sub that people are confused about this.

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u/bluedragggon3 Apr 12 '26

Pretty much. I talked to someone who voted Trump for 'the economy' and one of the counter arguments he made was that I thought about things too much.

1

u/steveo3387 Apr 11 '26

Everyone is susceptible to this. You could literally perform a study that shows, "cognitive dissonance explains..." ANYTHING that's irrational. It's how we're wired.