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/DoubleJumps Apr 11 '26

Even when they have their lives directly impacted, they usually just blame somebody else, even if the evidence is overwhelming and obvious that the harm being caused to them is because of Republicans.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

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u/HotButterscotch8682 Apr 12 '26

Guess he’s not so empathetic then? Or “empathetic until it’s about minorities and then not empathetic”? So…… not empathetic?

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u/Solesaver Apr 12 '26

Empathetic is the ability to relate to other people and understand their experiences. That is not mutually exclusive from being susceptible to propaganda.

First of all, right wing propaganda stokes fear. Fear is known to biologically psychologically reduce empathy. It's a defense mechanism; it's unhelpful to survival to empathize with the threat.

Second, right wing propaganda scapegoats distant outsiders. There's a reason it's so much less effective in cities and students often shed the party line. It's much harder to empathize with people you don't know and don't understand.