Psychological processes at work in Trump and the Brexiters | Letters
Gary Younge's excellent piece on the similarities of Trump and the Brexiters (Trump and the Brexiters must own the mess they lied us into, 11 January) is a reminder of the similar underlying psychological processes at work.
The pattern is clinically well known and exemplifies one response to attachment insecurity seen first when children are younger than two. The possibility of showing this response is built into our species after millennia of evolution. That response is called the ambivalently insecure strategy and the child is essentially thinking (unconsciously), "if I keep my parent's attention on me I shall be safe and won't die". Because young children without caretakers die, the child becomes attention-seeking by demanding ("do what I want!") or whingeing ("poor little me"). When stressed, the child is egocentric and their perceptions of others are distorted by their emotional needs. As time goes on, this often develops into bullying of weaker people and claiming victimhood when firmly confronted ("it's not fair, you're being mean to me"). The distorting of reality develops into lying. Such people, when in this state, find it difficult to be objective or to cooperate, and they try to control others to their own ends. This frequently leads to their groups fracturing (Trump administration, Ukip) or to them being surrounded by cowed "yes men".
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