(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
It looks like there is now evidence to back the notion that some already assume to be true - recent research appears to have detected a cognitive difference between avid Trump supporters and open opposers.
In a study conducted at the University of Minnesota and Colgate University, 700 white participants were primed with an image of either a white or black man then asked to rate their likelihood of supporting a federal mortgage aid program. If shown a photo, of a black man, participants were less likely to oppose the program, expressed more anger toward the policy, and shamed the beneficiaries of the program. The implication of this reaction is that people carry a heavy bias based on the stereotype that black Americans abuse federal aid and welfare programs.
Trump supporters specifically showed bias in this experiment. “Importantly, these effects were exclusive to attitudes toward Trump; effects of the racial cue did not differ according to feelings about Hillary Clinton. Thus, Trump supporters and opponents respond in fundamentally different ways to racial cues in the environment," The authors of the study wrote.
It is important to note that according to the most recent Census Bureau data, even though the black and latinx populations in the U.S. experience substantially higher rates of poverty, the white working class is the biggest beneficiary of federal welfare programs. The concept that minorities are taking away from “hard working” Americans is simply untrue.
Alanna Shingler
Staff Reporter