A psychological perspective on Trump's appeal to his base.

[pampango]

From a psychological perspective, though, the people backing Trump are perfectly normal. Interviews with psychologists and other experts suggest one explanation for the candidate's success -- and for the collective failure to anticipate it: The political elite hasn't confronted a few fundamental, universal and uncomfortable facts about the human mind.

We like people who talk big.

We like people who tell us that our problems are simple and easy to solve, even when they aren't.

And we don't like people who don't look like us.

The world can feel like a complicated place. There may be no good answers to the problems we confront individually and as a society. It is hard to know whom or what to believe. Things are changing, and the future might be different in unpredictable ways. For many people, this uncertainty is deeply unpleasant. That desire is especially strong among social conservatives, research shows. They want answers, more so than other people.

In particular, humans tend to assume that if one group is getting more, another group must be getting less. We have a hard time understanding that two groups can both be getting more of something at the same time. Call it a cognitive blindspot, or a psychological illusion. Trump has appealed to people who could be especially averse to the presence of immigrants in their communities. The notion that improving the lives of immigrants would also help people living here already is profoundly counterintuitive, experts say, and that could be one reason that so many people find Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric so persuasive.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/15/i-asked-psychologists-to-analyze-trump-supporters-this-is-what-i-learned/

[frizzled]

1. "Screw the government, it's totally corrupt so let's burn it to the ground" is the sentiment I see

Electing Trump is the most colossal possible "Screw you" to the entire establishment, "cuckservatives" and "PC liberals" alike.

One sympathizes.

[BillZBubb]

2. ...that could be one reason...

Another reason could be they are assholes.

[guillaumeb]

3. I would add that many people are frightened and angry.

Frightened of the changes, the financial insecurity, the idea that their children will be worse off than they are. Angry because they feel that minorities are gaming the system and living well at the expense of hard working white Americans.

Unfortunately, they are also ill informed about the real reasons for the worsening economy. And the media will not provide THAT information.

Trump, like Reagan and his simplistic "morning in America" slogan, can repeat his simple and easily remembered message.

[tblue37]

5. jWell, once they've read his hat, how could they even consider not voting for him? nt

[safeinOhio]

4. I had a psych proff back in college

She gave the class a number of symptoms and ask the class for a diagnosis. No one got it right.

She said there is a term the professionals use,, "He's fucking nuts".

I'll go with that.