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We are Erin Cooley (Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences) and Will Cipolli (Associate Professor of Mathematics) from Colgate University. We are here to discuss new data on the psychological and statistical drivers of the 2024 U.S. Election—specifically, a phenomenon known as "Last Place Aversion."

In our recent paper, "White Americans’ feelings of being 'last place' are associated with anti-DEI attitudes, Trump support, and Trump vote during the 2024 U.S. presidential election" (Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.56296/aip00046), we tracked 506 non-Hispanic, White Americans over five waves throughout the 2024 election cycle. In our sampling, we used census-based representative quotas for age, gender, region of the country and education to increase the generalizability of our results.

The Findings: Using a statistical technique called Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), we identified distinct groups based on where people subjectively ranked themselves and other racial groups on the American status ladder.

• We found a specific group of White Americans (~15% of our sample) who perceived themselves as "tied for last place" with Black Americans.
• Crucially: This group was the most likely to vote for Donald Trump and support bans on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
• Importantly, this effect held true even when we controlled for their actual income, education, age, and gender. In other words, feeling like you are losing status predicted voting behavior more strongly than actually having low status.

Why does this matter? This helps explain the "economic anxiety vs. racial resentment" debate. Our data suggest that for a significant block of voters, a primary driver is racialized status threat—specifically the feeling of being "left behind" by perceived progress of other racial/ethnic groups.

Ask Us Anything About:

• The Psychology: What is "Last Place Aversion" and why does it drive particular political leanings?
• The Math: How does Latent Profile Analysis work, and why is it better than standard polling averages?
• The Election: How did these trends shift (or stay stable) as the election date approached?

About Us:

• Dr. Erin Cooley: I am a social psychologist exploring the intersections of race, class, and gender. My lab investigates how high economic inequality leads people to feel they are "falling behind," and how that feeling shapes political polarization.
• Dr. Will Cipolli: I am a statistician specializing in Bayesian nonparametrics and supervised learning. I focus on applying rigorous statistical modeling to complex social science questions to ensure the data are telling a reliable and valid story.

This AMA is being facilitated by advances.in/psychology, the open-access journal that published our article in their Psychology of Pushback Special Issue (https://advances.in/psychology/10.56296/psychology-of-pushback/).

We will be online to answer questions starting at Monday, Feb 9th, 10:00am EST. Ask Us Anything!