BYU professors Travis Ruddle and Brad Agle held a launch event at the Provo City Library on Oct. 15 for their new book titled “The Totality of Allegiance.”
The co-authored book details their research on the psychology of Donald Trump supporters and calls for an end to tribalism.
“This is a book by two traditionally conservative Republicans,” Agle said, “who are very concerned with the direction of the country and who honestly wanted to understand the people who vote for and support Trump.”
Ruddle, who is an assistant professor, and Agle, who is a professor, both teach at BYU’s Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics in the Marriott School of Business.
Elise Forbes, a research assistant for Ruddle and Agle, said she felt the book did a good job talking about Trump and his supporters without vilifying them or pushing either side away.
According to Ruddle and Agle’s website, the book analyzes the question, “how can otherwise good, decent and respectable people become so faithful to this leader?”
The authors analyzed responses from Trump supporters in focus groups in South Carolina, Arizona, Oklahoma and Utah, Ruddle said.
“The book is our attempt at understanding what Trump supporters are telling us,” Agle said, “using social science theories to help explain why they would be thinking that way.”
Ruddle noticed a phenomenon during their research, which he named “the totality of allegiance,” he said.
“When one person's identity becomes a group identity, we see these similarities of cult-like behavior where your identity is eroded and you don't even recognize it,” Ruddle said. “You become more allegiant to a person or a movement, rather than the actual things you think you're for, or used to be for.”
Before Ruddle and Agle presented their findings at the book launch event, Agle clarified their opinions of Trump supporters.
“We disagree with the people that we interviewed,” Agle said. “But we found the vast majority of them to be wonderful people that we could be friends with, and we could understand a lot of their frustration.”
Ruddle added the book is not about Trump, but instead about empathetically listening to his supporters.
“This is about the supporters who are the good, decent human beings who we saw in really amazing focus groups,” Ruddle said, “who are people you trust your kids with.”
At the event, Ruddle and Agle presented some of the findings from their research, including many of the strategies they said Trump supporters engaged in when confronted on their beliefs.
Agle said that while it may be impossible for Trump supporters to feel totally respected in their book, he hopes that they can at least feel he and Ruddle attempted to be respectful.
Ruddle added that Trump supporters aren’t the only political group that is guilty of a totality of allegiance.
“It's not just Republicans. Democrats are as guilty of it. Liberals are just as guilty,” Ruddle said. “But we do want to say there is a degree and a severity right now with Trump supporters that has to be examined because it is undeniable.”
Ruddle said he hopes that Americans think more deeply and understand that they are just as susceptible to totalitarian movements as other cultures have been.
“Use your critical thinking and become more,” Ruddle said. “Become better at looking at facts. Having a greater capacity to think critically gives you so much power in your own personal life, as well as your political decisions.”
With the upcoming election, Agle said, Americans should find ways to come together and heal their country.
“We need the message today even more than ever, we have got to talk to each other,” Agle said. “We cannot be as tribalistic as we've become. I think we all have to try to find ways of understanding other people's positions and perspectives.”