Science Friday: Evangelical Support for Trump and Church Attendance

To the average politico, it is no surprise that 80% of self-identified white evangelical voters supported Donald Trump in 2016 – a trend that continued in 2020 where exit polls showed 76-81% of the group supported Trump. Simple explanations could explain this trend but an article I read in grad school sparked a different potential answer to such high levels of support.

Church is the most widespread form of voluntary community affiliation in the United States. An academic article titled, “Churches as Political Communities” by lead author Kenneth Wald (1988) investigated how different church settings significantly impact the political ideology of attendees. Specifically, the authors investigated 21 protestant churches in Gainesville, Florida, ranging from “universalist” themed congregations to “traditional” congregations.

Results

The big takeaway from the study is that those who attend ideologically conservative churches are 3x more likely to identify with political conservatism. Why? The reason for conservatism spreading in church settings is the socialization and face-to-face interactions among church attendees. Put more simply, the more time you spend in a certain environment, the more likely you are to absorb and conform to the values and behaviors in that environment.

Therefore, although a study has not been conducted specifically relating to support for Trump, it is entirely possible that the protestant evangelical support for Trump is directly connected to church attendance and the ideological nature of protestant congregations.