After more than 40 hours of interviews with 10-year-olds in multiple states, children who supported former President Trump were more willing to visit the homes of families with opposing views than their Democratic-leaning counterparts. I concluded that there is.
“Researchers find in new study that children who support the Democratic Party increase polarization.” CNN reported Thursdaysuggests that Democratic-leaning children are more likely to discriminate against Trump supporters, while children in red states are more likely to repeat “misinformation.”
The findings were compiled from more than 40 hours of interviews with 80 elementary school students in Arizona, New Jersey, and Texas on behalf of CNN's “Anderson Cooper 360.” The interviews, with the approval of parents or guardians, took place both in the spring, before President Biden abandoned the nomination, and in the fall, long after Vice President Kamala Harris took over the baton.
During both seasons, Arizona State University associate professor, child development specialist, and media psychologist Ashley Landrum spoke with children and noticed some key differences between respondents.
“Democratic-leaning children are more likely to express negative emotions (nervous/worried or angry/frustrated) about Donald Trump than Republican-leaning children are more likely to express about Kamala Harris. were approximately 9 times (or 800% higher),” the study said. He explained.
CNN host Anderson Cooper said on his show that the “biggest finding overall” was that “the children in the study were polarized, and children in what researchers say were more likely to be in blue states.” showed more extreme reactions than children in red states.”
A boy who leans toward the Democratic Party said, “Donald Trump has done bad things, he's like Hitler.''
When asked what the first word that comes to mind about the candidates they oppose, one child said “liar” when referring to Harris, while another said “pure evil” when referring to Trump.
Landrum also showed the children images of two houses, one with Republican ticket signs and one with Democratic ticket signs, and said he and his family were playing with friends at one family's home. But I asked if it was okay. Support your opponent.
“Most people were willing to visit homes associated with either political party, Landrum said, but she found that a higher percentage of Democratic-leaning children (a third of 1) did not want to visit the homes of children whose families supported President Trump,” CNN reported. “Few Trump-leaning kids said they didn't want to visit Democratic homes.”
In May, a child from a pro-Biden family suggested there would be an argument if they all visited the home of a pro-Trump family, saying, “It could be like a food fight or something.” Ta.
When one African-American child asked if it was okay to go to the home of a child whose family supported Trump, she said, “No, the family doesn't because they know he doesn't like black people.” I wouldn't be happy to meet you.” myself. “
Another man said he would not allow his family to visit the home of a Trump supporter. no way. Because my mom and dad don't like Donald Trump at all. Not even a little bit. ”
Meanwhile, another boy was asked if it was okay for Harris to go to the house of someone he liked, and he replied, “I think it's okay, it's just a matter of personality.”
Another question asked whether children living in a Trump supporter's home and a Harris supporter's home could be friends.
One girl suggested that people can be friends despite their differences: “I like Taylor Swift and they like Olivia Rodrigo, but we're still friends.”
Another boy said, “It doesn't matter if we have different skin colors or different people. We can still be friends.”
Landrum offered a theory as to why the reactions of Democratic-leaning children are so much more polarized than those of Republican children.
“So Donald Trump is a very polarizing figure, and parents are responding to Donald Trump being a very different kind of political figure than what we've seen before. In particular, it's very likely that children are reacting,” she said on CNN. “So do kids in red states hold the same strong attitudes? Well, not when we're talking about Kamala Harris, but in part because they don't know much about her. This may be due to the absence of
