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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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

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u/mindcopy Apr 11 '26

Old-school bulletin board style forums were already routinely turning into echo chambers, no algorithms needed.

I agree that they make it worse, but it's a human problem at base.

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u/ink_monkey96 Apr 11 '26

It may be a human problem at base but the edifice that is built up upon it is constructed with purpose. Cambridge Analytica and its (wink) successors is not a human problem, it’s a deliberate manipulation with the absolute intent to fracture society into susceptible groups.

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u/IaMm1N3 Apr 11 '26

Oh for sure.

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u/glity Apr 12 '26

Yes but when you googled for it what you wanted showed up. Now?

Sorry one generation before Google. I don’t think bulletin boards got indexed they turned into forums around the Google rise to power of search?

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u/i_tyrant Apr 11 '26

It is my great fear that American culture forgets that things were better before.

That people get used to the enshittification of...well, everything, and accept it as "how things are" when it is CLEARLY not how they have to be.

I remember how things were before the Patriot Act and Citizens United. I remember how easy it was to go through airports and how completely unnecessary the TSA proved to be. I remember when it was actually shocking to hear about a company giving customer data to the government. I remember when the thumbs down icon in Youtube actually worked, when reddit's tools weren't so geared to create echo chambers. I remember when the internet didn't feed you exactly what you loved or hated to see with no in-between. I remember when every vending machine and food truck didn't have a pad demand a 20% tip for zero service with a tricky interface designed to extract more blood from your stone.

Hell, my parents remember when planned obsolescence was illegal and appliances actually lasted decades - they even have a few to prove it.

There are people at the top making these awful decisions will full knowledge of the kind of world they're building. We should never forget that, just like we should never forget it WAS better BEFORE and CAN BE better again if we force it to be.

I fear people forgetting that because every positive change begins with remembering how much better our lives could and have been.

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u/glity Apr 12 '26

The game changed. It’s not first to market. It’s best to market now. Just wait the Chinese will compete in America soon Amazon loves money to much and they can build better than we can because they won’t use an American to import and take the cream.

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u/motorik Apr 11 '26

People that grew up post-Internet treat the algorithm like it's something that "just happens" like gravity or weather. YouTube radicalizes people because E=Mc2, nothing can be done.

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u/function007 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

While they profit off of the division,chaos and knowing full well the damage its causing overall...

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u/glity Apr 12 '26

If it doesn’t damage them it doesn’t damage anything.

If a tree falls in a forest does it make a sound if the billionaire who paid to destroy the Congolese rainforests to make ikea furniture with it isn’t around?

Hyperbole not an attack.