RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) – The dramatic hours of Election Day 2016 are already being memorialized as a watershed moment in American history. Two films are in wide release examining the events; the documentary “11/8/16,” and the comedy “The Misogynists.”
“I’m not surprised people are making movies about that night,” said Will Dunlop, an assistant professor of psychology at UC Riverside. “Ten or 20 years from now, people will look back on this like they look back on other significant moments in history, such as the election of Barack Obama and the first time we landed on the moon. The election of Donald Trump marked a seismic shift in how people think about American politics, as well as the members in their community who may or may not have voted for him.”
The research, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, was the result of two studies by Dunlop’s team. The studies considered the stories of about 550 individuals who voted for Clinton or Trump. As the events of election night 2016 unfolded, Clinton and Trump supporters came to terms in different ways with an election result that few pollsters predicted.
In the study, Trump voters’ narratives were flavored with themes such as “redemption,” and “hope.” Conversely, Clinton supporters’ stories were characterized by themes such as “surprise,” and “contamination,” the latter term referring to a narrative that begins with a positive tone and ends with a negative one.
For Clinton supporters, Dunlop theorized that the despair narrative serves a practical purpose: it allows them to commiserate with each other, fostering a sense of belonging in the midst of uncertainty. For Trump supporters, the narrative provides feelings of validation.
In addition to Dunlop, authors of the paper, “The Cultural Psychology of Clinton and Trump Supporters: A Narrative Approach,” include Nicole Harake and Dulce Wilkinson, both doctoral psychology students at UC Riverside.
