Supporting the President in a #NotMyPresident Context: Experiences of College-Aged Trump Supporters at a Southern University

• Authors: Madison Adams

Abstracts

EN

In light of sexual misconduct allegations involving the former president of the United States, this study analyzes the reasons some university students provide for their continued support of Donald Trump. Relying on ten semi-structured qualitative interviews with college students who align with the president, this paper identifies three interrelated stages making up a model of support. First, students identify their conservative worldviews as helping to explain their initial support of Trump. Second, given the numerous accusations leveled against the president in the media, students readily use neutralization tactics to counter these narratives and rationalize their continued support. Finally, they feel vilified at their university and elsewhere for supporting Trump, and they find it necessary to conceal their opinions. Such experiences do not contribute to them questioning their beliefs. On the contrary, they lead to more entrenched and rigid support of the president. By identifying this three-stage process and applying neutralization theory to better understand it, this paper contributes to the existing sociological literature on the persistence of conservatism in the United States today.

Keywords

EN

Identity; Neutralization Theory; Conservatism; Sexual Misconduct; Donald Trump

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Qualitative Sociology Review
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 82-102

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Madison Adams

• Southwestern University, USA; Texas A&M University, USA

• https://orcid.org/0000000285312155

References

• Abrams, Abigail. 2019. “Here Are the Other Investigations President Trump Still Faces.” Time. Retrieved July 30, 2021 https://time.com/5557644/donald-trump-other-investigations-mueller/
• Adams, Kenneth Alan. 2019. “Trump and the Social Trance.” Journal of Psychohistory 46(4):238-258.
• Anderson, Greta. 2020. “Shifting Further Right.” Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved January 10, 2020 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/07/maine-college-republican-group-movesright-alienating-some-members
• Atkinson, Lucy and Yoojung Kim. 2014. “‘I Drink It Anyway and I Know I Shouldn’t’: Understanding Green Consumers’ Positive Evaluations of Norm-Violating Non-Green Products and Misleading Green Advertising.” Environmental Communication 9(1):37-57. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2014.932817.
• Bailey, Sarah P. 2019. “Christianity Today, an Influential Evangelical Magazine, Says Trump ‘Should be Removed from Office.’” The Washington Post. Retrieved January 10, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/12/19/christianity-today-an-influential-evangelical-magazine-says-president-trump-should-be-removed-office/
• Berlinerblau, Jacques. 2019. “Donald J. Trump, the White Evangelicals, and Martin Luther: A Hypothesis.” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible & Theology 73(1):18-30.
• Binder, Amy and Kate Wood. 2013a. “Who Are Conservative Students?” Pp. 29-75 in Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives. Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press.
• Binder, Amy and Kate Wood. 2013b. “How Conservatives Think about Campus: The Effects of College Reputations, Social Scenes, and Academics on Student Experience.” Pp. 111-160 in Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives. Princeton, Oxford: Princeton University Press.
• Blackett, Emma. 2017. “‘Sexism Defeated!’: Women for Trump and the Binding Energy of Political Hope.” Women’s Studies Journal 31(2):18-26.
• Boyle, Kaitlin M. and Ashleigh E. McKinzie. 2015. “Resolving Negative Affect and Restoring Meaning: Responses to Deflection Produced by Unwanted Sexual Experiences.” Social Psychology Quarterly 78(2):151-172. doi: 10.1177/0190272514564073.
• Boyle, Kaitlin M. and Lisa Slattery Walker. 2016. “Neutralization and Denial of Sexual Violence in College Party Subcultures.” Deviant Behavior 37(12):1392-1410. doi: 10.1080/01639625.2016.1185862.
• Cabrera, Nolan L. 2014. “Exposing Whiteness in Higher Education: White Male College Students Minimizing Racism, Claiming Victimization, and Recreating White Supremacy.” Race, Ethnicity, and Education 17(1):30-35.
• Cohen, Andrew. 2017. “Psychological Harm and Free Speech on Campus.” Society 54(4):320-325.
• DiAngelo, Robert. 2011. “White Fragility.” International Journal of Critical Pedagogy 3(3):54-70.
• Dickerson, Caitlin and Stephanie Saul. 2016. “Campuses Confront Hostile Acts against Minorities after Donald Trump’s Election.” The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/police-investigate-attacks-on-muslim-students-at-universities.html
• Dijk, Teun, van. 1992. “Discourse and the Denial of Racism.” Discourse & Society 3(1):87-118.
• Edgell, Penny. 2017. “An Agenda for Research on American Religion in Light of the 2016 Election.” Sociology of Religion 78(1):1-8.
• Erichsen, Kristen et al. 2020. “Bitchifying Hillary: Trump Supporters’ Vilification of Clinton during the 2016 Presidential Election.” Social Currents 7(6):526-542.
• Fahrenthold, David. 2016. “Trump Recorded Having Extremely Lewd Conversation about Women in 2005.” The Washington Post. Retrieved January 15, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html
• Fandos, Nicholas and Catie Edmondson. 2020. “As a Post-Impeachment Trump Pushes the Limits, Republicans Say Little.” The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/us/politics/trump-senate-republicans.html
• FiveThirtyEight. 2020. “How Popular is Donald Trump?” Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/
• Friedersdorf, Conor. 2020. “Evidence that Conservative Students Really do Self-Censor: Is Free Speech Imperiled on American College Campuses?” The Atlantic. Retrieved February 21, 2020 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/evidence-conservative-students-really-do-self-censor/606559/
• Frumin, Aliyah. 2016. “After Clinton Loss, #NotMyPresident, #StillWithHer Goes Viral.” NBC News. Retrieved December 09, 2019 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/after-clinton-loss-notmypresident-stillwithher-goes-viral-n681446
• Gainor, Dan. 2016. “Liberals Get Hysterical over the ‘Alt-Right’ but We Are Living in Their ‘Alt-Left’ World.” Fox News. Retrieved December 28, 2019 https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liberals-get-hysterical-over-the-alt-right-but-we-are-living-intheir-alt-left-world
• Gainor, Dan. 2017. “Liberals (and the Media) are Finally Getting the Violence They Wanted.” Fox News. Retrieved January 14, 2020 https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liberals-and-themedia-are-finally-getting-the-violence-they-wanted
• Grady, Constance. 2020. “E. Jean Carroll Says Trump Raped Her. She’s Suing Him. Now She’s Been Fired from Elle.” Vox. Retrieved February 23, 2020 https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/2/19/21144280/e-jean-carroll-elle-fired-trump-defamation-lawsuit
• Gross, Neil, Thomas Medvetz, and Rupert Russell. 2011. “The Contemporary American Conservative Moment.” Annual Review of Sociology 37:325-354.
• Gummadam, Parveena, Laura D. Pittman, and Micah Ioffe. 2016. “School Belonging, Ethnic Identity, and Psychological Adjustment among Ethnic Minority College Students.” The Journal of Experimental Education 84(2):289-306. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2015.1048844.
• Hartocollis, Anemona. 2016. “On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need ‘Safe Spaces.’” The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/us/politics/political-divide-on-campuses-hardens-after-trumps-victory.html
• Hayes, Christal. 2018. “Here Are Ten Times President Trump’s Comments Have Been Called Racist.” USA Today. Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/08/14/times-president-trump-commentscalled-racist/985438002/
• Hewitt, Hugh. 2019. “Why Do Conservatives Support Trump? Because He Implements Conservative Policies.” The Washington Post. Retrieved January 09, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/12/why-do-conservatives-support-trump-because-hes-conservative-president/
• Hills, Darrius. 2018. “Back to a White Future: White Religious Loss, Donald Trump, and the Problem of Belonging.” Black Theology: An International Journal 16(1):38-52.
• Jaffe, Sarah. 2018. “Why Did a Majority of White Women Vote for Trump?” New Labor Forum 27(1):18-26.
• Johnson, Emily Suzanne. 2019. “Women Have Been the Heart of the Christian Right for Decades.” The Conversation. Retrieved October 09, 2019 http://theconversation.com/women-havebeen-the-heart-of-the-christian-right-for-decades-118094
• Johnson, Jessica. 2019. “When Hate Circulates on Campus to Uphold Free Speech.” Studies in Law, Politics & Society 80:113-130.
• Jones, Jeffery M. 2018. “More U.S. College Students Say Campus Climate Deters Speech.” Gallup. Retrieved February 12, 2020 https://news.gallup.com/poll/229085/college-studentssay-campus-climate-deters-speech.aspx
• Junn, Jane. 2017. “The Trump Majority: White Womanhood and the Making of Female Voters in the U.S.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 5(2):343-352.
• Kaplan, Adiel et al. 2019. “Trump Admin Files More Briefs in Religious Liberty Cases than Obama, Bush.” NBC News. Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/trump-admin-files-more-briefs-religiousliberty-cases-obama-bush-n974531
• Kaptein, Muel and Martien Helvoort, van. 2019. “A Model of Neutralization Techniques.” Deviant Behavior 40(10):1260-1285. doi: 10.1080/01639625.2018.1491696.
• Keneally, Meghan. 2019. “List of Trump’s Accusers and Their Allegations of Sexual Misconduct.” abc News. Retrieved December 29, 2020 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/list-trumps-accusers-allegations-sexual-misconduct/story?id=51956410
• Kidder, Jeffrey L. 2016. “College Republicans and Conservative Social Identity.” Sociological Perspectives 59(1):177-200.
• Klein, Josh and Cathryn Lavery. 2010. “Presidential Candidates and State Crime: Views of Some U.S. College Students.” Critical Criminology 18(3):191-209. doi: 10.1007/s10612-010-9097-5.
• Kolber, Jess. 2017. “Having It Both Ways: White Denial of Racial Salience while Claiming Oppression.” Sociology Compass 11(2):1-9. doi: 10.1111/soc4.12448.
• Leeuwen, Theo, van and Ruth Wodak. 1999. “Legitimizing Immigration Control: A Discourse-Historical Analysis.” Discourse Studies 1(1):83-118.
• Lemire, Jonathan and Elana Schor. 2020. “Trump Portrays Himself as Defender of Faith for Evangelical Supporters at Miami Rally.” TIME. Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://time.com/5758805/trump-rally-miami-evangelical/
• Linden, Sander, van den and Costas Panagopoulos. 2019. “The O’Reilly Factor: An Ideological Bias in Judgments about Sexual Harassment.” Personality and Individual Differences 139:198-201.
• Long, Colleen. 2019. “Analysis: ‘Go Back’ Captures Core of Trump Political Agenda.” Associated Press. Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://apnews.com/f106b3351f6148a98f8f-24c536f464ed
• Marx, Karl. 2013. “Estranged Labour.” Pp. 32-38 in Social Theory: The Multicultural Readings, edited by C. Lemert. Philadelphia: Westview Press.
• McGraw, Meridith. 2019. “Trump Airs His Grievances as MAGA Millennials Mingle.” Politico. Retrieved January 10, 2020 https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/21/trump-turning-point-usa-speech-089182
• Merriman, Ben. 2019. Conservative Innovators: How States Are Challenging Federal Power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Milligan, Susan. 2020. “Support for Trump’s Removal Grows.” U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-01-03/supportfor-trumps-impeachment-removal-grows-in-new-survey
• Munson, Ziad. 2010. “Mobilizing on Campus: Conservative Movements and Today’s College Students.” Sociological Forum 25(4):769-786.
• Pruitt, Lisa R. 2018. “The Women Feminism Forgot: Rural and Working-Class White Women in the Era of Trump.” University of Toledo Law Review 49(3):537-604.
• Reimer, Erich. 2017. “Stop Saying ‘Not My President.’” The Washington Examiner. Retrieved January 14, 2020 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/stop-saying-not-my-president
• Relman, Eliza. 2020. “The 26 Women Who Have Accused Trump of Sexual Misconduct.” Business Insider. Retrieved December 29, 2020 https://www.businessinsider.com/women-accused-trump-sexual-misconduct-list-2017-12?IR=T
• Renfrow, Daniel G. and Elisabeth A. Rollo. 2014. “Sexting on Campus: Minimizing Perceived Risks and Neutralizing Behaviors.” Deviant Behavior 35(11):903-920. doi: 10.1080/01639625.2014.897122.
• Rogers, Katie. 2016. “Pro-Trump Chalk Messages Cause Conflicts on College Campuses.” The New York Times. Retrieved December 29, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/us/pro-trump-chalk-messages-cause-conflicts-on-college-campuses.html
• Rubin, Jennifer. 2020. “Sorry, Trump. Most Americans Don’t Like You.” The Washington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/02/americans-dont-believe-or-like-trump/
• Schneider, Christopher J. and Stacey Hannem. 2019. “Politicization of Sexual Misconduct as Symbolic Annihilation: An Analysis of News Media Coverage of the 2016 ‘Rape Election.’” Sexuality & Culture 23(3):737-759.
• Schwadel, Philip and Gregory A. Smith. 2019. “Evangelical Approval of Trump Remains High, but Other Religious Groups Are Less Supportive.” Pew Research Center. Retrieved February 18, 2020 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/18/evangelical-approval-of-trump-remains-high-but-other-religious-groups-are-less-supportive/
• Seeman, Melvin. 1959. “On the Meaning of Alienation.” American Sociological Review 24(6):783-791.
• Setzler, Mark and Alixandra B. Yanus. 2018. “Why Did Women Vote for Donald Trump?” Political Science and Politics 51(3):523-527.
• Shammas, Diane. 2015. “We Are Not All the Same: Arab and Muslim Students Forging Their Own Campus Communities in a Post- 9/11 America.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 35(1):65-88.
• Silva, Eric O. 2019. “Accounting for Trump: The Neutralization of Claims of Racism in the Early Stages of the 2016 Presidential Campaign.” Pp. 197-216 in Studies in Symbolic Interaction, vol. 50, edited by N. K. Denzin. Emerald Publishing Limited.
• Spencer, Kyle. “The Rise of the Battleground Campus.” Politico. Retrieved January 02, 2020 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/11/15/2020-election-college-campus-politics-battleground-states-070076
• Sykes, Gresham M. and David Matza. 1957. “Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency.” American Sociological Review 22(6):664-670.
• Tachine, Amanda R., Nolan L. Cabrera, and Eliza Yellow Bird. 2017. “Home Away From Home: Native American Students’ Sense of Belonging During Their First Year in College.” Journal of Higher Education 88(5):785-807.
• Tien, Charles. 2017. “The Racial Gap in Voting among Women: White Women, Racial Resentment, and Support for Trump.” New Political Science 39(4):651-669.
• Trump, Donald. 2018. “President Donald J. Trump Is Defending American Values.” The White House. Retrieved January 11, 2020 https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-defending-american-values/?utm_source=link
• Vescio, Theresa and Nathaniel Schermerhorn. 2020. “Hegemonic Masculinity Predicts 2016 and 2020 Voting and Candidate Evaluations.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(2):1-10.
• Woessner, Matthew and Robert Maranto. 2019. “Campus Conservatives Aren’t under Siege but There’s More to the Story.” NBC News. Retrieved January 10, 2020 https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/right-says-campus-conservatives-are-under-siege-left-dismissive-both-ncna1042051
• Wootson, Cleve R., Jr. 2017. “She Wanted to Criticize Black Lives Matter in a College Speech. A Protest Shut Her Down.” The Washington Post. Retrieved January 14, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/04/10/shewanted-to-criticize-black-lives-matter-in-a-college-speech-aprotest-shut-her-down/

Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/1733-8077.17.4.05

Biblioteka Nauki

2028554