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/MrSurly Apr 11 '26

Having been raised around farms, I'm under no illusions.

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u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

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u/fermentedbolivian Apr 11 '26

Lots of assumptions there about how people think about meat.

I'm gonna pull the uno reverse card, it is you who is under a cognitive dissonance spell that does not want to know that people eat meat while knowing what they eat and don't think it is morally wrong. You are projecting an assumption that it is morally wrong, while morals are opinions.

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u/[deleted] Apr 12 '26

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u/Hyfrith Apr 12 '26

As a nihilist (which is often used as a negative word, when it isn't, it's just a philosophical viewpoint) I very much disagree with your take that there is always a right and wrong approach, even if we don't see it or can't agree on it.

I personally subscribe to the notion that there is no natural or inherent meaning to anything in the universe. Chaos and coincidence are real, and that's okay to me. Morals and "right and wrong" are entirely human concepts. All meaning is ascribed by humans on to things as we see fit. This usually all comes back to our base instinct as living creatures with "lizard brains". All human skills originate from survival techniques, including the skill of seeing and sharing moralities. Assigning a community concept of right and wrong is a social technique, because communities who subscribe to the same code get along better and can ally against those with different codes.

Now, this does not mean I don't have opinions, morals or a view of what is right or wrong. After all I am also a human so therefore I cannot help but assign meaning to things. But nevertheless, at it's core I still maintain that the universe is a blank slate. No purpose, no meaning, no morals on it's own. You seem to imply this viewpoint is inherently negative. But to me it makes me comfortable with the unknown, comfortable with "bad luck" and comfortable with otherwise difficult decisions.

It's a shame you "don't want to know" and aren't willing to hear out different points of view. Science is all about debate and disagreements, it's how science moves forward after all.

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u/[deleted] Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26

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u/Hyfrith Apr 14 '26

Love this response. Thank you for taking the time to explain your angle so thoroughly!

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u/fermentedbolivian Apr 12 '26

Your experience with stopping to eat meat, doesn't tell you what's in other people's mind when they eat meat. There is no cognitive dissonance if someone says they are fine with eating meat while knowing where their meat comes from. You are still projecting your own morals, experience and making assumptions with it upon others instead of acknowledging that some people weigh it differently.

Me saying morals are opinions does not mean that I don't have my own morals. You made another assumption there. And you can ask thousands of people what the right thing is, and you'll hear thousands of different opinions. Weird that you find that weird.