4 Reasons Trump Supporters Remain Blind to His Flaws
Trump's supporters say he's the most authentic, straight-talking candidate in the running. They're convinced he "sees what's going on in the country," "tells it like it is," and, by "echoing what a lot of people feel and say," represents more ordinary Americans' interests than any other presidential hopeful.
As for his incoherent policies (like an unrealistic tax plan some experts project would tank America's economy), or the risk his anti-Muslim rhetoric poses to national security and foreign relations, or that a bit of fact-checking proves he's not the most honest GOP candidate? Trump fans wave off these red flags as par for the course in politics. And they easily excuse his jarringly discriminatory remarks (i.e., most Mexicans "are rapists") with variations on the phrase, "I don't think he really meant them in, like, a harmful way or anything like that."
How do Trump's staunchest backers so easily disregard evidence that he isn't authentic - or worse, that he could have a seriously negative impact on our country?
First, a little Psych 101.
All of us fall victim to common mental traps that psychologists call cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are shortcuts our brains take to process the world around us and inform us how to proceed (like when you attribute the bad smell on a crowded subway platform to the dude wearing sweat pants rather than the gorgeous blonde ... who forgot to put on deodorant).
Cognitive biases help us make quicker decisions and issue snap judgments when we're pressed for time, running on empty, or emotionally overwhelmed. They can be useful, but they can also keep us from seeing the whole of whatever picture's in front of us. Including political candidates and the flaws in their policies.
Trump supporters who still overlook his most hazardous downsides could be deploying the following four:
1. Unconsciously tuning out an idol's flaws. One of the most frequently engaged-in traps of these kind is confirmation bias, or selective attention. You've been a victim of this yourself if you've ever, say, granted zero credibility to anything that comes out of your conservative uncle's mouth, but excitedly retweeted a bunch of inspiring quotes from Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.
That's because we tend to seek out information that already conforms to our beliefs and assumptions while ignoring evidence that challenges our points of view. One example would be Trump's supporters refusing to acknowledge how many times he's contradicted himself. Think of the time Trump said this: "You [Megyn Kelly] have done a great job, by the way, and I mean it." And then this: "I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly, I don't think she's very good at what she does." (That is, among other comments about the Fox News anchor's character.) By ignoring the contradiction, his supporters arrive at the conclusion that "[h]e's never flip-flopped."
2. Clinging to beliefs even harder when they're challenged. The backfire effect happens when conflicting opinions or blatant examples of how we're wrong strengthen our adherence to what we believe in. Exhibit A: The recent pile-on of Trump for his initial reticence to disavow the KKK galvanized several Fox News correspondents to rally behind him.
3. Seeing things in black and white because that feels easier. Trump supporters may be engaging in a self-protective mechanism called splitting. Splitting entails the division of people into strict black-and-white categories of "all good" or "all bad." Coupled with only paying attention to what we already believe, splitting helps us disregard negative accusations or uncomfortable truths about people in our "all good" categories (Trump, for some). But it goes a step further by prompting us to label anyone who underscores flaws in our idols as "all bad." We reject or disparage such "evil" others (in this case, those on the opposite side of the political spectrum) at all costs. This way, we avoid feeling doubt about ourselves - or that the candidate we are supporting is "right."
Trump's campaign capitalizes on the allure of black and white thinking. By raising voters' anxiety about imminent threats to their gun rights, job safety, and national security while portraying other candidates as ill-equipped to protect voters from such concerns, Trump successfully shunts more people into the "all bad" bin. As a result, he's left as the only savior. And insecure voters for whom the candidate's core messages ring true remain convinced they cannot survive under the leadership of anyone else. (Especially not a candidate whose political correctness may come across, by contrast to Trump's brashness, as hesitance to take these issues head-on.)
4. Being pessimistic because that takes less effort. Enter another cognitive trap here called the negativity bias - which makes us recall, attune to, and place more stock in negative information than positive information. Back when we were cavepeople, this may have helped our ancestors escape dangerous environments and remember which berries weren't poison. But today it can incline us towards irrational fears and depression. Given our brain's natural propensity to grant negative information more credence, many of Trump's exaggerated claims could simply feel truer to his followers - like the woman supporter who proclaimed, "I believe Donald. I'm telling you, he says what I'm thinking." Especially considering the wealth of research suggesting conservatives are more sensitive to negative information than their liberal opponents.
Of course, Trump supporters aren't the only ones guilty of deploying these mental gymnastics. All of us, regardless of our political orientation, rely on cognitive biases and psychological defenses to avoid feeling overwhelmed. But when we refuse to consider the flaws in our logic - or in the candidate we endorse - we keep ourselves from making truly informed decisions about our own and our country's future.
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