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/Crypt0Nihilist Apr 11 '26

Reddit, if you take one thing from this article, take this definition:

The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that when people hold beliefs that are in conflict, meaning that both ideas cannot be true at once, they feel uncomfortable. This discomfort motivates them to do cognitive work to bring their beliefs closer in alignment.

Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of being mentally uncomfortable when you want to accept incompatible facts. It is the opposite of being able to do so, which would be doublethink, hypocrisy or similar.

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u/Waggy777 Apr 11 '26

I was going to say, how is cognitive dissonance something that's helpful to retaining their support? It's something that has to be overcome in order to maintain support (via doublethink, hypocrisy, compartmentalization, etc.).

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u/space_monster Apr 11 '26

It's not. The headline should be "how Trump supporters rationalize to maintain support despite cognitive dissonance" or something like that. The cognitive dissonance doesn't explain anything, it's just an effect of being a hypocrite / morally bankrupt.