Research finds that feelings of victimhood can indeed be stoked by politicians, and are linked to support for Trump, his policy agenda, conspiracy theories & distrust.

Importantly, people do not need to actually be victimized to feel like a victim. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/13/new-research-shows-connection-between-political-victimhood-white-support-trump/#click=https://t.co/1vN3KPMLkm

Perceived victimhood does not depend on race, gender or education.

This helps explain why victimhood could loom so large in the minds of Capitol rioters despite many coming from objectively advantaged groups in society.

Perceived victimhood is also similar among Republicans and Democrats and among conservatives and liberals. For example, 28% of Republicans and 27% of Democrats expressed agreement with the statement “great things never come to me.”

Egocentric and systemic victimhood are both positively related to distrust of government.

Perceived victims are also more likely to explain major events and circumstances using conspiratorial narratives.

There are specific political consequences as well. For example, after accounting for other factors, people with egocentric victimhood are more likely to support Trump, a border wall with Mexico, and oppose “political correctness.”

These links are twice as large for Whites.