Trump supporters' Stockholm syndrome
A lot has been written, said and discussed during this most unusual race for president of the United States. Among the many strings of inquiry, one question that has defied most reasoned logic is: Why do voters stick with Donald Trump despite his many character flaws and non-presidential behavior? Why are they transfixed by his snake oil pitches, knowing full well that he cannot deliver on his lofty promises?
Certainly, economic dislocation and lost trust in the workings of government have parts to play in the explanation. If we dig deeper, however, and try to understand the interpersonal and relational dynamic between Trump and his most vocal supporters, there seems to be a deeper, darker ***** afoot.
When viewed from a clinical psychologist’s perspective, Trump controls his following much like a captor compels his hostages. He holds them with media frenzy and his personality cult while making promises that their release will soon come. In the meantime he demeans, vilifies and puts people down, giving voice to his followers’ anger but also humiliating and taking advantage of them.
The psychological phenomenon of such a relationship, where people idolize and make excuses for their captor, is known as Stockholm syndrome. Over the years the term Stockholm syndrome has been used to understand the dynamics of ***** *****, spouse battering and pimp-procured prostitutes. And now it fits the connection between Trump and some of his supporters. These kind of traumatic bonds are characterized by hostages’ distorted thinking.
This term was first used in 1973, to describe the responses of several employees held hostage for six days in a bank vault hostages in Stockholm, Sweden. Rather than expressing outrage or disdain, the hostages expressed positive feelings and vehemently defended their captors.
A widely publicized example since then was Patty Hearst, the granddaughter of an American publishing magnate. ********* in Berkeley, Calif., by a left-wing terrorist group, Hearst, while in captivity, made propaganda-type statements supporting her captors’ cause, and even engaged in some of their ******* activities.
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