Purity, Disgust and Donald Trump
Many American voters, Haidt wrote,
perceive that the moral order is falling apart, the country is losing its coherence and cohesiveness, diversity is rising, and our leadership seems to be suspect or not up to the needs of the hour.
Haidt, a professor at N.Y.U.’s Stern School of Business, argues that Trump
is not a conservative, and is not appealing to classical conservative ideas. He is an authoritarian, who is profiting from the chaos in Washington, Syria, Paris, San Bernardino, and even the chaos on campuses, which are creating a more authoritarian electorate in the Republican primaries.
.. Trump is more domineering than the other candidates, bullying opponents and reporters alike, calling them losers, refusing to ever apologize for anything. This could indeed appeal to those high in social-dominance orientation and authoritarianism, particularly those who mistake such domineering for actual authority.
Graham and Haidt have found in their research that for the most conservative voters, the two “values” with the strongest appeal are authority and purity.