The Trump Effect: An Experimental Investigation of the Emboldening Effect of Racially Inflammatory Elite Communication
2020/02/17 by Benjamin J. Newman, Benjamin Newman, Jennifer L. Merolla +4 · 261 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Argument (complex analysis) #Context (archaeology) #Elite #Gender Politics and Representation #History #Law #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Prejudice (legal term) #Psychology #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0007123419000590
published in British Journal of Political Science 51(3), 1138-1159 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2020/02/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Abstract
Abstract This article explores the effect of explicitly racial and inflammatory speech by political elites on mass citizens in a societal context where equality norms are widespread and generally heeded yet a subset of citizens nonetheless possesses deeply ingrained racial prejudices. The authors argue that such speech should have an ‘emboldening effect’ among the prejudiced, particularly where it is not clearly and strongly condemned by other elite political actors. To test this argument, the study focuses on the case of the Trump campaign for president in the United States, and utilizes a survey experiment embedded within an online panel study. The results demonstrate that in the absence of prejudiced elite speech, prejudiced citizens constrain the expression of their prejudice. However, in the presence of prejudiced elite speech – particularly when it is tacitly condoned by other elites – the study finds that the prejudiced are emboldened to both express and act upon their prejudices.
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