Fewer than half of Americans would date across party lines
If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends — and political beliefs, it turns out. New data from YouGov finds that many Americans tend to have friends and partners who often share their political views.
Data from YouGov’s daily topical survey finds that 50 percent of Americans say that all or most of their friends have political views similar to their own. About one in five (19%) say that half their friends tend to share their political views while half don’t. Just 12 percent say that relatively few of their friends share their political beliefs.
Democrats (60%) are more likely than Republicans (53%) and independents (38%) to say that most or all of their friends have similar political views.
This habit of only connecting with those who have similar views may not be limited to friendships.
A YouGov poll from earlier this year asked Americans how comfortable or uncomfortable they would be dating someone who was a member of the opposite political party.
About four in 10 (43%) said they would be comfortable with this. A near-equal number (44%) said they would be uncomfortable.
Democrats (53%) are more likely than Republicans (47%) and independents (40%) to say dating someone affiliated with the opposite political party would make them uncomfortable.
Women (48%) are also more likely than men (40%) to say they would be uncomfortable with this.
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