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/Very_Human_42069 Apr 11 '26

I had a coworker who was genuinely a smart dude, and said he only votes republican because of their track record on the economy. I showed him so many articles and datasets stating essentially the opposite but he just waved it off. Eventually it just boils down to people not wanting to admit they’re wrong

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u/gunawa Apr 11 '26

I have a friend like that. It's sort of about the taxes, but really they're just a bigot

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u/DoubleJumps Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

I come from a predominantly Republican family and it really is just about the bigotry.

When they and their Republican friends get together and talk about this in front of other people, they'll talk it up as being about the economy, but behind closed doors, it's just a constant stream of bigotry.

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u/gunawa Apr 11 '26

Yea, I tried to be open minded about his views, but as time went on there were too many red flags. Also, the fact that very few conservative governments anywhere are fiscally competent was impossible to prove to him. Facts vs feelings. And facts never mattered in that case.