I think that this is a good time to go back to the twin topics of cults and conspiracies in the context of Donald Trump, who grounded his political cult following largely on a base of conspiratorial thinking, beginning with Trump’s preposterous claim that Barack Obama was born in Kenya (a country that his mother apparently never even visited).
An examination of the psychological characteristics of cult followers shows that they fit precisely with the profile of Trump supporters. An article in Bustle (by Carolyn Steber), for instance, mentions 9 personality traits that people who join cults are more likely to exhibit.
These traits include the following:
1. Wanting to feel validated (Check: Trump’s rhetoric validates them)
2. Seeking an identity (Check: Trump’s political cult is the ultimate “identity politics,” as surveys have discovered. These are mostly people who feel a threat to their “status” as “white people.” Trump reassures them and gives them a political identity which includes a sense of superiority.)
3. Being a follower, not a leader (Check: This goes without saying, but people who want a “leader” to take care of them, such as Trump, are much more likely to join a cult.)
4. Seeking meaning in life (Check: Being a Trump cultist gives them meaning in life, joining them to a “movement” that they are duped into believing is for a cause far greater than themselves.)
5. Being schizotypal thinkers (Check: This one relates directly to conspiratorial thinking. Schizotypal thinkers are people who have strange beliefs and behaviors that make them prone to believing in bizarre conspiracy theories, which Trump promotes.)
6. Being highly susceptible to suggestion (Check: People who are more susceptible to suggestion tend to be much easier to “brainwash,” a trait we clearly see in Trump’s base. Right-wing media aids greatly in the brainwashing process, but Trump is the head brainwasher. Once brainwashed, they will believe anything their leader says, no matter how bizarre, including strange conspiracy theories.)
7. Constantly blaming others (Check: Trump is the whiner-in-chief – which he mistakes for “winning” – and he validates the whiny behavior of his base. Trump lets them feel they are in the right, and avoid responsibility, by complaining about and hating the same people that Trump does.)
8. Always being angry (Check: Similar to blaming others for their problems, Trump lets his base vent their anger at anyone who is not one of them, creating an “us versus them” situation which increases cohesion and a sense of belonging within his cult.)
9. Having very low self-worth (Check: Trump preys on people who feel like “losers” in life, giving them a false sense of hope that they can become “winners” by “joining his team. This trait correlates with the need for validation and an identity, and seeking meaning in life, so we have come full circle with these traits.)
Turning to predictors of conspiratorial thinking, we find considerable overlap with the cultish traits of the typical Trump supporter.
An article from a blog called “Trait Path” basically discusses three characteristics which have been found to predict conspiratorial thinking, as follows:
1. The best predictor is schizotypal thinking, which has already been mentioned in the list of traits typically found in cult members as well as Trump supporters.
2. The second-best predictor is narcissism. Examining the traits of cult members and Trump supporters, narcissistic tendencies are a feature of most of them, even including low self-worth. The need for validation, seeking an identity, blaming others, and constant anger are all typical of narcissists, along with low self-esteem which narcissists mask with bravado.
3. Finally, conspiracy nuts tend to display elements of the “dark triad” of psychological traits, which includes the already-mentioned narcissism, along with Machiavellianism (manipulativeness), and psychopathy (cruelty). Studies of Trump supporters have found a tendency for them to exhibit these traits, which helps explain how, when “their side” does it, they exhibit a willingness to disregard the law and moral principles which they claim to support, as well as their support of cruel and extreme policies. Similarly, cults tend to favor people who exhibit these traits as well.
There is not a lot that we can do in the short-term to ameliorate the personality flaws that characterize the typical Trump supporter. However, it is possible for personality to change considerably over time, and there are even therapy techniques such as cognitive therapy which can help in this process, in addition to techniques to deprogram cult members.
We do know that nations which have fallen prey to cult-like behavior, such as Germany, Italy and Japan during World War II, quickly turned around after that war and denounced such behavior, with the large majority of their citizens repudiating the ideologies that led to that war. I think that we may see a similar phenomenon in the United States once Trump is gone from our public lives. As I have noted, research has found that some Trump voters are already beginning to deny ever having voted for him. I suspect that “erasing Trump” will become a prominent feature of U.S. society in the relatively near future.
At the rate that he is going, Trump’s presidency may not even last to the end of this term.
Here are the two articles that I mentioned in this post.
If You Exhibit These 9 Personality Traits, You’re More Likely To Join A Cult (https://www.bustle.com/…/if-you-exhibit-these-9…)
Psychology of Conspiracy Theories & Personality Traits