The Tribal Games

Tribalist Foundations of Trump Supporters

Bibliographic Data

ID2370997
AuthorsBernard Mckenna (0000-0001-7092-4944, The University of Queensland, corresponding author), Justin P Brienza (0000-0002-8121-075X, The University of Queensland), Ali Intezari (0000-0001-9369-2859, The University of Queensland)
Year2023
Volume49
Issue4-5
Pages625-645
Publication date2023-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/08969205221135037
OpenAlexW4309001043
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited52

This paper builds on Smith and Hanley's finding that Trump's supporters were not solely driven by demographics and economic distress, but predominantly by prejudices and preference for an overt authoritarian leadership. Our longitudinal study of the 2020 US Presidential election extended their study to test additional propositions about tribalism by considering two intergroup factors: an orientation to protestors and minorities and conservative vs liberal ingroups. While there was a strong negative correlation between attitude to protestors and to minorities, the strength of correlation between liberal and conservative ingroup 'membership' and support/vote for Trump/Biden was more telling. Essentially, because tribalism factors overpowered almost every variable including political orientation, we conclude that identity-based tribalism is now the primary basis of political allegiance

Allegiance · Authoritarianism · Biology and political orientation · Democracy · Identity politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidential election · Sociology · Tribalism · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology

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