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Melanie Tannenbaum has written several interesting blog posts about ambiguity intolerance and its connection to the early popular support Donald Trump is currently enjoying. Roughly speaking, people who are not comfortable without a plan of action or a path forward are said to have more ambiguity intolerance.
What may be surprising, however, is the research showing that people high in ambiguity intolerance feel so profoundly uncomfortable with the idea of uncertainty, they will often prefer a slightly negative yet certain outcome to a potentially-more-positive, uncertain one. In other words, people may find Donald Trump to be disagreeable, abrasive, or downright unlikeable. But because of his reputation for "telling it like it is" and "being honest to a fault," they also feel certain that they can believe Trump when he says he's telling the truth.
Tannenbaum points out that despite a record of Trump making contradictory comments in the past, people tend to believe his convictions on what he says because nobody would say those "non-normative" things if they really didn't believe it.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 19 2015, @03:30PM
We're pretty much in agreement on that.
That said, though, I'd rather see the arrogant prick raising hell in the White House, than see any one of the power elite resting on their laurels there.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday August 19 2015, @11:09PM
Yes, except he too is one of the power elite. It's kind of like that phone commercial where the old white dude in the corner office talks about how his new cell phone plan lets him "stick it to the Man," to which his assistant quips, "But...you *are* the Man, so, aren't you really sticking it to yourself?"
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday August 20 2015, @12:39AM
Yes, except he too is one of the power elite. It's kind of like that phone commercial where the old white dude in the corner office talks about how his new cell phone plan lets him "stick it to the Man," to which his assistant quips, "But...you *are* the Man, so, aren't you really sticking it to yourself?"
No, he's not "The Man". "The Man" isn't a hivemind or an organized group, at least in the case of corporations. Suppose the old white dude in the corner office is an CEO in the insurance business. He isn't profiting from rip-off cellular plans and the horrible state of the cellular phone industry in this country. He's getting screwed just like the rest of us, having to pay too much for monthly service and getting poor service and coverage in return (compared to other nations such as Korea and any European country). Yes, he's likely screwing us with our insurance premiums, but that's not related to cell service. So he has every right to feel like he's "sticking it to the Man" when he gets a better cell plan and ditches Verizon (or whoever; Verizon seems to be the biggest rip-off right now).
It's not like he gets a special cellular plan deal just because he's a CEO.
It's the same with Trump. Yes, he's one of the power elite, but in a totally different sector. He isn't one of the power elite in *politics* or government (yet). He is in some other business(es), I suppose NY area real estate. Being a real estate tycoon in one small (but economically powerful) geographic area does not make you "one of them" as far as national politics. It doesn't necessarily make him better either, but it does make him different, and a real change of pace from the business-as-usual of the Washington politicians.