Are Trump supporters blind to his lies and manipulation? The last thing you want to do is challenge someone when you want to change their mind. The sunk cost effect is well known in psychology. The more we invest in something the more we stick with it. The University of Southern California conducted a study using the fmri to see how the brain reacts to being challenged. In an essence, your political beliefs are much like religious belief and a part of who you are.

We would ask someone to change who they are to please us. But we frequently challenge people’s political beliefs expecting to succeed. Personal change is hard and most people are not able to make changes easily. Take the person who is told by their doctor to alter their diet to control their diabetes. Even if the change is beneficial to someone it is seldom easy for someone to make them.

Mississippi the bible belt of the United States has one of the poorest region. Most people in this area support Donald Trumps although his policies severely affect the lives of people in this area. One news reporter interviewed a man who lives in a rundown house with no lights, a mattress on the floor, and barely any food. He supports the policies of Donald Trump that severely impact his life; such as Trump’s policies on food stamps and welfare.

We wouldn’t go around badgering a obsess friend into losing weight. Why do we feel we would have better results trying to change political beliefs? You can never change a person who does not want to change and that goes for political beliefs too. The study from the University of California found that those who are more emotionally invested in their political beliefs are less likely to change them when challenged.