These are primarily older, less religious voters whose interests include travel, college sports, and crafting & home decor. In 2020, 15% of them voted for Trump, 70% for Biden, and 15% didn’t vote.
Top Traits & Values
Our research takes us beyond demographics to the traits and values that drive behavior so that we can deeply understand our audience. The traits that most define this segment of moderate white women are:
- outgroup derogation
(low) - trust
(high) - conservative political narratives
(low) - role of government
(high) - vaccine hesitancy
(low)
Their top values are:
Trusting Liberals Are Most Likely to Recognize Systemic Issues
Many Trusting Liberals moved beyond limitations like a bad marriage or a restrictive upbringing. They see and acknowledge systemic injustice in a way other segments do not.
Being a mom, grandma, or caregiver is part of many of their lives, but not as much of an innate part of their identity like it is for women in other segments. Many Trusting Liberals who have children are wistful about what else they could have accomplished if they’d chosen another path in life.
They are receptive to messages that acknowledge they’ve made a difference and can carry the torch and continue advancing progress for everyone.
Of note is this group’s high support of a larger role of government and how trusting they are: they trust scientists, they trust the government, and they think folks, in general, are trustworthy. They don’t have high levels of racial resentment
or internalized
or benevolent sexism
, but are still slightly higher in these traits than Liberal Progressives.
They are not very religious: 56% are not at all religious and 33% are slightly religious.
While most women in this group reliably vote for progress, it’s important to continue to engage with them as their moderate status makes them susceptible to being targeted with disinformation and grievance-based narratives. Given their value of security, they may be particularly susceptible to narratives about crime and other topics designed to raise fear and uncertainty.
Top Issues for Trusting Liberals
- Gun control
- Equality
- Affordable housing & inflation
FrameShift asked women to arrange aspects of their identity so that the most closely-held traits are at the center, and less-important traits are in the outer rings. This map, created by a 55-year-old Trusting Liberal in Pennsylvania, shows that caregiving is not the most important part of her life, that she is trusting, and that she is sensitive or high in compassion.
Demographics
