New research from PLOS One suggests that Trump supporters may share some of the narcissistic traits that were exhibited by the former U.S. president himself during his 2020 re-election campaign. The study revealed that people who scored higher in the antagonistic and indifferent facets of narcissism were more likely to say they were voting for Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Donald Trump’s leadership style was characterized by an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a disregard for others — two key characteristics of narcissism. While many psychologists have pointed out Trump’s narcissistic personality traits, little research has considered whether his supporters might have similar narcissistic tendencies.
Study author Matthew M. Yalch suggests that people with inflated self-images combined with a susceptibility to feeling undervalued might be attracted to Trump’s grandiose personality. In other words, people with narcissistic tendencies themselves might be drawn to Trump’s narcissistic persona, looking to defend their worth by identifying with his entitled and aggressive ways.
In October 2020, Yalch conducted a study to examine whether certain aspects of pathological narcissism might predict the decision to vote for Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. A total of 495 U.S. workers between the ages of 18 and 79 responded to a questionnaire asking them who they intended to vote for in the upcoming election. They also completed several scales measuring various aspects of grandiose narcissism (characterized by overt displays of egoism and aggression) and vulnerable narcissism (characterized by introverted self-centeredness and an inability to accept criticism).
Using a statistical technique called a principal components analysis, the researchers explored pathological narcissism as a hierarchy of related concepts. Each dimension within the hierarchy was then tested to see whether it could predict the intention to vote for Trump in 2020.
The results showed that self-centered antagonism and indifference to others were the two aspects of narcissism that best predicted intent to vote for Trump. This was even after controlling for a series of relevant demographic variables.
Yalch says these findings point to the grandiose aspects of narcissism being most strongly tied to the decision to vote for Trump in 2020. The researcher says this is unsurprising given the way Trump ran his 2020 campaign. While his 2016 campaign might have appealed to the vulnerability of voters, Trump’s aggressive position during his 2020 campaign likely appealed to the antagonistic facets of narcissism.
“By all accounts,” Yalch discusses, “Donald Trump ran his 2020 reelection campaign and his presidency more broadly based on the dimensions of narcissism highlighted in this study: antagonism and indifference seem to have been guiding principles, both implicitly and explicitly.”
The study author notes that the findings shed light on the role of personality in political campaigning. Appealing to voters’ darker emotions might not be an effective tactic when running for an election, considering Trump’s loss of both the popular vote and the electoral college in 2020. “A platform rooted in animosity towards others can generate a substantial amount of angry enthusiasm (as was clear during the election and its immediate aftermath),” Yalch adds, “but may not be one that is convincing to the majority of people, at least not in a country as diverse as the U.S.”
The study, “Dimensions of pathological narcissism and intention to vote for Donald Trump”, was authored by Matthew M. Yalch.
pyriphlegeton on May 18th, 2021 at 11:45 UTC »
I'll still remind everyone that it's always better to take someone's opinions as genuinely held beliefs, interact with them honestly and try to talk through your disagreements (as long as they seem willing to do that). Don't use findings like these to generalise people who hold differing opinions from yours.
AdamF778899 on May 18th, 2021 at 11:41 UTC »
I wonder how they controlled for the timid Trump supporter, who would have voted for him twice but never told anyone about it.
blutfink on May 18th, 2021 at 03:20 UTC »
For anyone wondering what survey questions look like that measure narcissism, the paper lists a few examples for sub-traits. (Disagree or agree, 1-5)