A deadly rally in Charlottesville, a slew of mass shootings, a divisive general election, and an insurrection based on unfounded claims of voter fraud. The United States is more openly divided than it has been since the Civil War, and the extremist right wing of the country has become emboldened over the years. During the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally in 2017, America saw an outing of neo-Nazis, Confederate sympathizers, and Ku Klux Klan members chanting racist and bigoted epithets. Among the sea of Nazi and Confederate flags was another symbol of support: merchandise touting “Make America Great Again.”
While then-President Donald Trump condemned these groups, he still infamously said there were “very fine people on both sides.” Among those who Trump was trying to appease were right-wing hate groups like the Proud Boys who openly supported the former president, yet over 74 million Americans voted for him in 2020. Because of this, it’s worth taking a look at the psychology of the alt-right to understand their motives and why this association didn’t deter nearly half of all voters from supporting the incumbent Republican.
It’s estimated that 3 percent of the general U.S. population, or over 3 million people, identify their support for the alt-right.
Despite what the name suggests, the “alt-right” isn’t a fringe, alternative right-wing ideology with a small following. It’s estimated that 3 percent of the general U.S. population, or over 3 million people, identify their support for the alt-right. The group is associated with paleoconservatism, antiestablishmentarianism, anti-Semitism, racism, White nationalism, anti-immigration — essentially any flavor of White supremacy and reactionary politics that upholds the oppressive power structures that harm marginalized groups.
That last addendum isn’t an uncharitable characterization of the movement; a 2019 study in Perspectives on Psychological Science showed alt-right Trump supporters scored highest in social dominance orientation (SDO), a personality trait measuring an individual’s support for social hierarchies and ingroup dominance. In comparison, those who identified as non–alt-right Trump supporters scored only slightly lower in SDO, and (non–alt-right) non-Trump supporters scored the lowest. In addition, both Trump-supporter groups scored higher than non-Trump supporters in ideologically neutral authoritarianism, a metric measuring rigid adherence to and enforcement of social norms and traditionalism.
A 2019 study in Perspectives on Psychological Science showed alt-right Trump supporters scored highest in social dominance orientation (SDO), a personality trait measuring an individual’s support for social hierarchies and ingroup dominance.
Essentially, those who score higher in SDO typically believe that the world is inherently unequal and ruthless — a dog-eat-dog world. To secure safety, one must form coalitions based on ingroups and outgroups. The alt-right’s ingroup of choice is predominately White males, indicated by the fact that they expressed more concerns about discrimination toward White people and men. Their outgroups coalesced around their choice to exclude non-White people, this division being reflected in their higher scores in the “blatant dehumanization of derogated and opposition groups,” “motivation to express bias toward Black people,” and “desire for collective action on behalf of Whites.” That hierarchical domination is even more concerning when authoritarianism comes into play. Those scoring high in that metric are more willing to submit to perceived legitimate authority, follow societal conventions, and punish those who deviate from those norms. The alt-right sees Trump as a legitimate authority and the institutions that he attacks — such as mainstream media — as illegitimate authorities that deviate from ingroup norms. Interestingly, despite their popular anti-establishment reputation, the alt-right supports Trump significantly more than non–alt-rightists.
The researchers only found a few differences between alt-rightists and non–alt-right Trump voters when compared to non-Trump supporters. The alt-right were more likely than their non–alt-right counterparts to trust alternative media, express value-based bias towards Black people, and desire collective action on behalf of White people.
The alt-right’s motivations center around White social status. Other studies have also pointed to the threatened-status narrative to explain the alt-right’s spread in the United States. Although White people have been and will continue to be the majority power holders in the country, increases in representation and power of minority groups will close that gap. Because of this trend, it seems unlikely that the alt-right will let their influence in American politics diminish. More concerning is that while not every conservative is an alt-rightist, they share much more in common with them than should be comfortable, and social media’s affinity for political polarization may facilitate this ideology’s spread even more.
More concerning is that while not every conservative is an alt-rightist, they share much more in common with them than should be comfortable, and social media’s affinity for political polarization may facilitate this ideology’s spread even more.
I don’t doubt that this article’s subject matter is contentious. Most people across the political spectrum simply want to live decently without the aggression that extremists engender. However, it’s important, now more than ever, to take a critical, empirical look beyond party affiliation at the movements coming to power and their intentions so that we can achieve a good and dignified future for all.
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