A few days back, I wrote a two part diary, discussing the psychology of Trump supporters; part 1 was entitled The Psychology of Trump Supporters: Psychopaths and Sociopaths.

Britta Love at Alternet has written a piece on this theme as well, and quotes Robert Hare, who developed the standard psychological assessment for identifying psychopathic personality traits, and reaches a disturbing conclusion:

Robert Hare, the psychologist who developed the checklist for diagnosing psychopathy (a term used interchangeably with sociopathy, both colloquial terms for “anti-social personality disorder” in the DSM), believes that “our society is moving in the direction of permitting, reinforcing, and in some instances actually valuing some of the traits listed in the Psychopathy Checklist.” Sociopathy rates in the USA are estimated to be between 1-4% (and increasing), compared to just 0.03-0.14% in parts of East Asia, for example. The difference is not genetic – it’s cultural. Rather than focus on the collective, our culture endlessly celebrates the power of the individual above all else. We glorify and encourage the ego and the self rather than the inter-relatedness of all living things. Sociopaths and narcissists have always existed – but in our culture they are aspired to.

It’s hard to disagree with Ms. Love’s, and Dr. Hare’s, bleak assessment of American culture. 

One of the two dominant political parties, and most of the largest media outlets, promote a sociopathic/psychopathic worldview as some sort of ideal; note the research and writing over the past few years about toxic masculinity in American culture, for example: 

Between 2009 and 2012, 40 percent of mass shootings started with a shooter targeting his girlfriend, wife, or ex-wife. Last year alone, nearly a third of mass shooting deaths were related in some way to domestic violence. And when you look beyond public shootings, the majority of mass shootings in this country actually take place inside the home, as men target the women and children they’re intimately related to.

Employing harassment, violence, and coercion against women has long been considered a normal way for men to behave in romantic relationships, as deeply ingrained gender norms teach men that they’re entitled to women’s bodies. 

The question is— How can we change it?