Fantasies that remove fear and doubt can be especially attractive, even if they are unrealistic and irrational. A conspiracy theory can provide comfort by identifying a convenient scapegoat and thereby making the world seem much more straightforward and controllable. Research shows that feelings of anxiety make people think more conspiratorially.
Life is complex and perplexing and at times dangerous. Certain people are attracted to conspiracy theories because of their vulnerable personalities and even by mental illness. And when they feel protected, they overlook his offensive and outlandish behavior.Ĭonspiracy theories. Trump supporters believe that he is capable of protecting them from their fears. Trump is very adept at focusing on these specific fears among his supporters, using key words and names to trigger and stoke their emotional concerns. A third major fear among Trump supporters is of socialism and believing that capitalism is being threatened and even destroyed. Another major fear among Trump supporters is falling behind financially and losing the economic capacity to control their lives and protect themselves. Trump appeals to racist and bigoted supporters when he calls Muslims "dangerous" and Mexican immigrants "rapists and murderers." This fear mongering by Trump is aimed at supporters who are vulnerable to racist and bigoted thinking because it fits with their world view. Tribal identification is an outgrowth of fear mongering. When people are reminded of their mortality, which happens with fear mongering, they reflexively defend those who share their world view and their natural and ethnic identity. Terror management theory explains why fear mongering works. Trump actively encourages his supporters to experience exaggerated fear responses, such that their brains remain energized.įear mongering. When presented with specific perceived threats–immigrants, democrats, protestors, socialism–conservatives' brains light up in activity and experience a need to seek safety. Research shows that some people have an exaggerated fear response to threats. Even so, a childhood fantasy can be intense and not easily given up.īrain reactivity to threats. This is an infantile fantasy that is unrealistic and unachievable because it is not rooted in the real world of adult life. In this case, some people believe that Trump is the "right" leader who can take them to a place of harmony and never-ending happiness and success. While this dynamic is often seen in romantic relationships, especially during the early infatuation period, this exact same dynamic can be seen in political relationships as well. This is a fantasy based in childhood experiences during our earliest years–due to our complete dependency upon parenting persons–that if one can find the "right" leader, then everyone can live harmoniously together forever. They act as if life is a "game" or a "show" that is somehow disconnected from the difficult realities of everyday life, but it is not. These supporters are happy as long as they are being entertained by him. Some supporters are always waiting to see what outrageous thing he says or does next. Some people are obsessed with celebrities and reality television. This is especially dangerous regarding the pandemic: "It will disappear very quickly," "We have it under control," "We may have some embers or some ashes…" Many supporters engage in magical thinking and are encouraged and validated by Trump, leading them to align strongly with him. Trump engages in magical thinking almost constantly. Relying totally on emotion or "gut reactions" results in magical thinking. This often emerges from an inability to distinguish fully between emotions and logical thoughts. Magical thinking presumes a causal link between one's internal, personal experience and the external physical world. Or, similarly, that one's thoughts, feelings, ideas, or words can cause something to happen. This is the belief that one's thoughts, feelings, ideas, or words can bring about effects in the world. Trump and some of his supporters have this psychological phenomenon in common they are unable to remedy their own limitations of knowledge and their inaccurate thinking. These people are resistant to change their political thinking because they believe they are the knowledgeable ones. In other words, some people think they know more than they do and hold firmly to their opinions. They develop "illusory superiority" from their inability to recognize their true lack of knowledge. They tend to overestimate their level of knowledge and hold onto that position.
Some people are under-informed and misinformed and are completely unaware of their lack of information.
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