Researchers identify personality traits linked to Trump’s “cult-like” followership

New research published in Political Psychology has found that the most devoted supporters of Donald Trump share a distinct set of personality traits. The study suggests that high levels of conscientiousness, particularly the facet of self-discipline, characterize individuals who exhibit cult-like loyalty to the former president.

Political commentators and news organizations have frequently described the base of the former president as a “cult” following his rise in 2016. This terminology usually implies a level of devotion that persists regardless of policy outcomes or controversial behavior.

The authors of this paper sought to investigate whether this description has an empirical basis in psychology. They aimed to determine if specific personality characteristics make certain voters more inclined toward unwavering obedience and dogmatic followership.

“In the mainstream media, supporters of Donald Trump are often referred to as a personality cult,” said study authors Lars J. K. Moen and Benjamin E. Goldsmith. Moen is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Vienna and author of The Republican Dilemma: Promoting Freedom in a Modern Society. Goldsmith is a professor at the Australian National University and member of the Atrocity Forecasting Project.

“We wanted to explore whether the most loyal Trump followers share characteristics that can plausibly be thought to make them inclined to the kind of committed obedience that is associated with members of a personality cult. We also saw a glaring need for a study of the psychology of individuals associated with personality cults, as most studies of this phenomenon focus on leaders.”

The researchers developed theoretical expectations based on the Big Five personality framework. This framework divides human personality into five major dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

The investigators hypothesized that individuals susceptible to extreme political loyalty might exhibit specific patterns within these dimensions. For instance, they examined whether such followers might display lower levels of openness or higher levels of neuroticism.

To test these ideas, the researchers conducted two separate studies. The first involved a survey designed specifically for this project. It was fielded online in April 2021 and included a sample of 1,038 adults living in the United States. This timing allowed the researchers to assess loyalty following the 2020 election loss and the end of the Trump presidency.

Participants in Study 1 completed the Big Five Inventory to assess their personality traits. This 44-item measure provides a detailed look at the five dimensions and allows for the analysis of specific facets, such as self-discipline. The survey also included a series of questions to identify what the authors termed “Trump Followers.”

The researchers defined these followers using strict criteria to capture extreme loyalty rather than simple political preference. To be categorized as a Trump Follower in Study 1, a respondent had to agree with seven specific statements. These included having voted for Trump in 2020 and strongly approving of his performance as president.

The criteria also required believing that Trump would go down in history as an outstanding president. Respondents had to believe he acted responsibly after the 2020 election. They also needed to agree that Republican leaders should follow his direction and that the media treated him unfairly.

To validate their initial findings, the researchers analyzed a second dataset for Study 2. They utilized the 2016 American National Election Study. This dataset contained responses from over 2,800 individuals collected during the 2016 election cycle.

Study 2 used a shorter personality measure known as the Ten-Item Personality Inventory. The researchers constructed a similar index to identify loyal supporters based on the available data. This included voters who showed a strong preference for Trump and reported finding nothing to dislike about him.

The analysis revealed a consistent pattern across both studies. The data indicated that high scores on Conscientiousness were significantly associated with being a loyal Trump Follower. This relationship held true even after the researchers controlled for a wide range of other factors.

Conscientiousness is a personality trait associated with being organized, reliable, and efficient. Individuals high in this trait often value order and duty. The study found that as a person’s level of conscientiousness increased, the probability of them being a die-hard Trump supporter also rose.

“The basic results we reported were actually surprising,” Moen and Goldsmith told PsyPost. “First, we did not expect that the most loyal Trump supporters would be distinguished by the Conscientiousness as opposed to other of the Big Five personality characteristics.”

“Second, the degree to which the pattern we uncovered was robust across both our own online survey conducted in 2021 and the 2016 American National Election Study was unexpected for us. We were not aware of the 2016 ANES’s inclusion of the Big Five when we designed our survey, but only found this later in response to colleagues’ feedback.”

In Study 1, the researchers were able to break down the Conscientiousness trait into two sub-categories: Order and Self-Discipline. The results showed that the link to Trump loyalty was primarily driven by the Self-Discipline facet. This specific characteristic involves the capacity to persist at difficult or boring tasks and to resist distractions.

The authors assessed whether this finding was simply a reflection of the known link between conscientiousness and traditional conservatism. Previous psychological research has established that conservative individuals tend to score higher on conscientiousness. To address this, the statistical models included controls for self-identified conservatism and Republican Party affiliation.

Even with these political identities taken into account, the association between conscientiousness and extreme loyalty to Trump remained significant. This suggests that the personality profile of a Trump “cultist” is distinct from that of a standard conservative voter. The analysis indicated that while the facet of Order was associated with general conservatism, Self-Discipline was uniquely tied to Trump loyalty.

The findings indicate “that firm Trump supporters are distinguishable in terms of their personality, and especially high levels of conscientiousness and self-discipline,” Moen and Goldsmith said. “Obedient, cult-like followership might, at least in part, be explainable in terms of an individual’s perceived self-discipline and desire for order in their life. Trump, as a leader who claims to possess a unique ability to ensure a safe and well-ordered society, might appeal to such individuals because of these psychological characteristics.”

The researchers also examined other personality traits but found less consistent evidence. They initially conjectured that loyalists might score low on Agreeableness or Openness. They also speculated that high Neuroticism, which involves anxiety and emotional instability, might drive individuals to seek a strong leader for security.

However, the results for these other traits were mixed or disappeared when controls were applied. For example, an initial link between lower Openness and loyalty was largely explained by the fact that loyalists tended to be conservative. Once conservatism was controlled for, the independent effect of Openness diminished. Similarly, the data did not support the hypothesis that high anxiety or neuroticism drives this specific type of political devotion.

The researchers also measured social attitudes known as Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation. Right-Wing Authoritarianism involves submission to authority and aggression toward outsiders. Social Dominance Orientation reflects a preference for hierarchy and inequality among social groups.

Unsurprisingly, the results showed that loyal Trump supporters scored high on both of these measures. Yet, the connection between Conscientiousness and loyalty persisted even when these powerful social attitudes were included in the analysis. This reinforces the idea that fundamental personality traits play a unique role in explaining this political phenomenon.

The researchers interpret these findings through the lens of psychological needs. They argue that individuals with high self-discipline may desire a world that is orderly and predictable. They may be drawn to a leader who demands absolute loyalty and promises to impose order on a chaotic society.

Donald Trump often presented himself as the only person capable of fixing the nation’s problems. He demanded total commitment from his subordinates and supporters. This leadership style likely appeals to those who prioritize discipline and unwavering commitment in their own lives.

“The phenomenon of a personality cult is commonly associated with authoritarian states, where the government can use its control over the media and education to create a glorified image of an amazingly capable leader,” Moen and Goldsmith said. “It is clearly significant if such loyalty to a leader can emerge also in a democratic system.”

“It would also be concerning, as it involves support for a leader due to belief in their abilities without critical evaluation of their policies. Such uncritical support is far from the ideal citizen who is concerned about policy issues or values and ready to challenge a leader for any act perceived as an abuse of political power.”

There are some limitations to this research that should be considered. The study relies on correlational data. This means it cannot prove that high conscientiousness causes someone to become a loyalist, only that the two are linked.

Additionally, Study 1 used an online sample that may not be perfectly representative of the entire population, though efforts were made to match demographic quotas. The researchers also acknowledge that the concept of a “personality cult” is difficult to operationalize fully in a survey format.

“Our study should be seen as exploratory and aimed at building theory, rather than testing it,” the researchers explained. “We only claim to evaluate ‘conjectures,’ rather than test hypotheses based on established theory. Our findings and the implications of our ideas should be tested on new data, both in the United States and cross-nationally. We hope to do this and encourage others to do so.”

Future research is needed to determine if these findings apply to other political contexts. It remains to be seen if similar personality patterns appear among supporters of other populist leaders around the world.

“Our findings are robust across two nationwide American studies, but further studies would provide better insight into the connection between personality and strong loyalty to President Trump,” Moen and Goldsmith said. “We also intend to test whether our results should be understood as U.S.-specific, or whether they can be found also in other countries. A particularly interesting case we plan to explore is India, where Prime Minister Modi has also been said to enjoy the support of a personality cult.”

The study, “The personality of a personality cult? Personality characteristics of Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters,” was authored by Benjamin E. Goldsmith and Lars J. K. Moen.