When it comes to lies in politics, Donald Trump is in a league of his own, says UK psychology professor
By: Jeff Beatty, Professor of Psychology, Edge Hill University
According to the "Washington Post", during his four years as president, Trump made 30,573 false or misleading statements, with a gradual increase from year to year: from 6 per day in the first year to 39 per day in the fourth year.
Although other presidents have also lied to the public, no one has lied as much as him. Some of Trump's lies are trivial, and many of them boast about himself ("No one builds walls better than me"). But there are more prominent and harmful lies, such as the claim that the 2020 presidential elections were "stolen" - something that is contrary to the facts, with dangerous consequences for the nation and public trust.
These lies have a significant impact. A study by political scientists Kevin Arsenault and Roy Truex found that the "big lie" about the election theft was particularly "sticky". About 50% of Republican voters believed him, despite all the evidence to the contrary. The researchers also found that the belief in this lie increased the sense of self-esteem of the Republican supporters - after all, they did not "lose" after all.
Why do politicians lie?
Politicians who lie can gain a strategic advantage. If you manage to distort the truth or build a new reality, it is usually more interesting and intriguing than the complex truth. The truth may be boring and uninspiring; The lie can be anything you want it to be. You know what your audience wants to hear.
Fight against disinformation
Politicians know that lying is part of our daily lives. Studies in psychology show that people lie on average twice a day. Many of them are harmless "white lies" for the benefit of others, but some are not so harmless and are told for the benefit of the lie itself.
Who likes to lie? Certain types of people are drawn to telling such lies, especially those with little empathy, such as narcissists and psychopaths. They don't care about the consequences for the recipient of the lie; Everything revolves around them.
The ability to lie improves with age
People start lying early in life - between the ages of two and three. Charles Darwin noted this in his son. And the ability to lie improves as our cognitive abilities develop. Like any skill, we get better at it over time.
Trump made a false claim that immigrants in Ohio eat cats and dogs.
to tell a big lie
Politics was once considered an art. The political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli wrote in 1532: "Those princes who did great things... knew how to bypass the intellect of the people by cunning." Part of that trick was lying. Machiavelli argued that leaders should do whatever it takes to maintain their power, and that could include being a "great pretender."
A big lie is sometimes defined as "a serious and deliberate distortion of the truth that is mainly used as a propaganda strategy". These may disrupt the company. Political historian Timothy Snyder accused Trump of using the Big Lie technique in denying the results of the 2020 election.
Lying can have an evolutionary advantage
As sociobiologist Robert Trivers has pointed out, lying can have a clear evolutionary advantage. Status, wealth and achievements are important in the great evolutionary struggle for gene survival - and that's why people (including Trump) lie about them.
Perhaps Trump managed to convince himself that the truth is as he presents it, or he thought to himself: "Plant the emotional image, that's all you need for the faithful."
Does the truth always win?
True or not, lies can sweep us away. As Shakespeare suggested in the play "The Merchant of Venice", many hope that "the truth will come out" in the end. But the last few months of the US election campaign suggest that this is not always true.
Comments
Ask him, anyway he's British and he, like me, doesn't have the right to vote
I forgot to mention my name, Aryeh, in the reply
"Humanity going to a bad place"
Humanity is cognitively dragged to a bad place...
The "leaders" and their metastases are pulling into the abyss...
To get through the dark times ahead,
You are my father with your website and others like you will be the ones who created for the sane - a safe passage - !!!
go with what you have,
And we'll get through it.
The question with the reporter is identified with the progressive radical camp? Most likely yes
And this article too. https://www.hayadan.org.il/%d7%94%d7%94%d7%91%d7%93%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%94%d7%a2%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%a7%d7%99%d7%9d-%d7%91%d7%99%d7%9f-%d7%94%d7%90%d7%92%d7%a0%d7%93%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%a1%d7%91%d7%99%d7%91%d7%aa%d7%99%d7%95
It is forbidden to defend such a type, even if on paper he says he is good for Israel. He wants those who will work with him to be like the advisors that Hitler had who did whatever he wanted and would not defend the constitution. He wants to eliminate the little democracy left in the US after his first term. What shape will the free world take if the country that is the leader of the free world becomes a dictatorship? How will they be better than Russia?
https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/byab01vg1x
The researcher is generally British
The article is from a respected website called THE CONVERSATION which has tens of millions of direct curiams as well as distributors (like us). Asking a politician to be honest shouldn't be so controversial.
If you read Trump's platform - for example in the article I uploaded a few days ago, he wants to cut basic research budgets, and let China overtake the US. He is not good for anyone, not even his voters. It is very bad for the environment, so you don't have to like it just because it is politically correct.
https://www.hayadan.org.il/%d7%9c%d7%90-%d7%a8%d7%a7-%d7%94%d7%9b%d7%97%d7%a9%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%aa%d7%97%d7%9e%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%98%d7%a8%d7%90%d7%9e%d7%a4-%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%a6%d7%94-%d7%9c%d7%a6%d7%9e%d7%a6%d7%9d-%d7%94%d7%a9
Trying to understand what this ultra-political article is doing in a magazine called Hidan?
Has the magazine become another piece of political trash from the creator of the left who is trying to shape reality according to his twisted eyes?
What does a completely political article have to do with science? to science?
A bunch of trash like you.
going to block you in the browser
You have become political trash
Me
Find out which party the lying professor who published his false research is voting for
By the way - the elections were really stolen. factually. Just because a typical leftist professor decided it was a lie doesn't make it a lie
Ask a Republican professor and you'll find he thinks and draws the exact same conclusions about Democratic candidates
There is no truth or falsehood with leftists. There is only a political position based on which they decide what is true and what is false... !!!
He knows very well that the public likes to be lied to.
Like Bibi.
And like the propagandists of religion
There is a logical fallacy in your response...
You can't apologize/justify yourself to people who believe lies!
to Elad Really convincing post, how to write a whole post without saying anything. "I checked it at the time" Shhhhh I'm impressed
I'm surprised that Trump even has supporters after January 6th.
The article was written by a professor of psychology, and the figure on the lies is from the Washington Post. Trump will be dangerous to the world, both in environmental issues and in giving a reward to dictators in the island of civilization when they attack their neighbors.
Regarding the ads, I did an experiment today, probably not successful in changing Google parameters, I will try to download back.
As a loyal reader of this site for years, I am saddened to see such articles that, in my opinion, are false to the truth and do not present the picture in a balanced way but are very trending.
I am especially saddened to see how a site that was at the forefront of science articles, became a political businessman and saturated with advertisements to a disgusting level. I understand the need to make money, but it is appropriate to find the balance between money and covering the site with advertisements, as it is almost impossible to find the articles.
Along the way she wrote about a phenomenon called "balance between the two sides" and shows why it is wrong
No, the site continues to defend science against its enemies, I have not heard of such a definition for Shamalan.
So that's it - has the site officially become a left-wing propaganda site?
The site from which the article was taken is a site of academics who write for the general public free of charge.
Why is the person who wrote the article trying to discredit and smear Donald Trump? The smell of dirt from a kilometer away, they record false data as if they were lost. Who financed this article to influence public opinion?
Maybe help the progressives, Biden and the shallow Alice?
The ones who lied are the Democrats who are the last thing they are Democrats.
Is there such an article for Kamala as well?
I don't know if Trump lies more than other politicians. In any case, the habitual liars, i.e. a large part of the journalists, cannot be the source of such a claim. Regarding Degel's claim, the cheating in the elections, this is a topic I looked into at the time, and on the face of it the evidence is clear that there was indeed cheating, contrary to what the writers say, and in particular through the use of the postal voting method, although I do not have the tools to be absolutely clear, but what is clear is that the data warrants an investigation that was not done. And Time magazine actually published the confession of a party involved behind the scenes that there was indeed such a conspiracy around the elections. Therefore, the cause of all the damage resulting from this claim is not the robbed but the usurper, or the person who refused to properly investigate whether there was a robbery. By the way, only Avill thinks that if all kinds of claims about rigged elections were thrown and some of those who claim them withdrew their claim, this proves all the claims.