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This, for me, is an interesting piece of research and I immediately thought of Donald Trump and his army of supporters. We see them being very vociferous at rallies. We see them wearing T-shirts emblazoned with praises for their great demagogue of a leader and we see stickers on their car bumpers praising Trump. We also see T-shirts and car bumpers criticising and even insulting Kamala Harris, Donald Trump's competitor in the race to the White House.
And of course Donald Trump is very prone to using nicknames for Kamala Harris which I argue are a form of insult. They are belittling and deliberately so in my opinion. He likes to belittle his opponents which is a cheap and nasty thing to do and it is very reflective, I would argue, of his character.
And today, in The Times, we have a report on this study and the article is entitled: "Steer clear of drivers with bumper stickers-they could be psychopaths."
And they ask whether your T-shirt informs people about your political affiliations or whether you have a bumper sticker which announces to the world your political affiliations.
And I'll quote the author here: "Well, then you are letting people know about two things: your politics, and, quite possibly, your tendency to psychopathy."
This study conducted in the US found that people who engage in ideological poking which means displaying political symbols designed to mock their opponents are more likely to score highly for psychopathic traits.
The study was led by Matejas Mackin from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He carried out the study because he saw the bumper stickers of post-Trump America and it felt like something had changed.
He said that, "When I was a little younger, I would typically see campaigns with signs that would say something like "Hope" or "Vote Obama" or "Vote McCain". Then from 2016 onwards, you start to see more and more people expressing their beliefs by insulting the other side. I was interested in understanding this phenomenon. Why do people do it?"
His study is published in the Journal of Research in Personality. It involved almost 500 US residents all of whom completed a questionnaire to assess their tendency towards 'dark personality traits'.
The conclusion was that there was a link between "ideological poking" and psychopathy. It wasn't a big effect but it was certainly there but it doesn't mean that people who did it were clinically psychopathic but there was a link.
He said this might explain some of the toxicity that we had seen in the past decade. He added, "It does seem to be the case that the contemporary polarised political climate might give individuals with slightly darker dispositions more of a channel to speak."
"Studies have suggested that the display of political apparel, including t-shirts supporting particular candidates or causes, is more common among supporters of conservative or Republican politicians compared to liberal or Democratic supporters. This trend has been observed with Trump supporters as well. Surveys and analyses have found that Trump supporters are more likely to wear apparel with pro-Trump messages, slogans, or imagery compared to non-Trump supporters. This could include t-shirts, hats, buttons, and other items expressing support for the former president." - Google Gemini.
In a recent bizarre attempt to insult Kamala Harris again he said: “She sounds more like Trump than Trump, copying almost everything. She is conning the American public, and will flip right back. I will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! There will be no flipping!!!”
His rallies are becoming less and less populated and the MAGA mantra sounds tired.
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