49 of Republican voters support Donald Trump Why

49% of Republican voters support Donald Trump. Why?

The Psychology of Political Ideology Delaney Olds Independent Research Advisors James Gimpel and Dr. William Mc. Conochie

❖Introduction ❖Current Research Findings ❖Data Collection ❖Data Analysis ❖Final Product

My Research ❖Research Question ➢How do psychological factors influence a person’s political ideology? ❖Hypothesis ➢ Various psychological factors, such as childhood experiences, parental influence, and personality traits, will influence a person’s political ideology.

Definitions ❖Ideology ➢ A system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy ❖ Liberal ➢ Open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values ❖ Conservative ➢ Holding to traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion

Research Findings ❖A person’s political beliefs are influenced by things other than just the candidate’s stance on issues and how a person feels about those issues ❖Deep-rooted psychological influences originating as far back as childhood influence a person’s political ideology ❖The main factors I am researching are childhood experiences, parental influences, and personality traits

Childhood Experiences ❖Parental income ➢ Americans who make less than $70, 000 a year are more likely to vote Democratic ➢ Americans who make over $70, 000 a year are more likely to vote Republican ➢ Generally, those earning a higher income are more likely to vote at all ❖Childhood socialization ➢ Sibling gender

Parental Influence ❖Parent’s party identification ➢ Children who are raised in a home where politics are often discussed are more likely to discuss politics in their daily lives when they are older, exposing them to new viewpoints ❖Religion ➢ Religion influences each person’s beliefs individually ➢ Some people’s religion and political beliefs share the same ideals, while others keep the

Personality Traits ❖In this project, personality is defined as a person’s degree of morality ❖“Orderliness” traits - organized, reliable, etc. - are traits characteristic of those with more conservative beliefs ❖“Openness” traits - compassionate, creative, etc. - are traits characteristic of those with more liberal beliefs

Data Collection ❖I conducted an anonymous online survey that asked participants questions about their childhood experiences, parental influences, and personality traits

Data Analysis ❖There is a slight correlation between age and political party identification ➢ More people between the ages of 14 and 19 identified as Democrat than Republican, independent, or other/none ➢ Adults in the 41 -50 age range tend to identify as Democrats, while adults in the 51 -60 - age range tend to identify as Republican ❖People tend to identify with political parties similar to their parents’ ❖Some personality traits have extremely strong correlations to one political party or the other ➢ Democrat: Compassionate, outgoing, sympathetic, nurturing, curious,

Final Product ❖I have created a brochure to distribute to teachers at Mt. Hebron ❖The purpose of these brochures is to inform people about the factors that influence political beliefs so they can think about how they have applied to their own lives

Next time you see a campaign ad or hear something about the upcoming election, think about the factors that have helped to shape your political beliefs.

Questions?