Ruled by the Demons? Exploring the Relationship Between Belief in Demons and Public Attitudes Toward Donald Trump and Joe Biden

Abstract

Beliefs in supernatural evils are prevalent among many religions. Prior research has shown that beliefs in supernatural evils were tied to various social and health outcomes. However, much less is known about the political implications of beliefs in supernatural evils. To fill this research void, a national survey of 1,092 adults with oversamples of respondents of Asian or Hispanic heritage was conducted in March 2023. The findings suggest that a stronger belief in demons or evil spirits was associated with more negative views toward President Joe Biden. This demonic effect was robust even after controlling for a variety of religious and sociodemographic variables. Besides being robust, the demonic effect was the strongest among all religiosity measures. In contrast, a main relationship between a stronger belief in demons and greater support for Donald Trump was found. However, this demonic effect was explained by Christian nationalism. Finally, these demonic effects vary based on one’s political party identity.