Republicans are more willing than Democrats to date someone from the other party

They say opposites attract, but does that apply to political beliefs?

An August 2020 YouGov poll finds that 44 percent of Americans say they would be willing to date someone with political views different than their own. About two in five (39%) say they would be not very or not at all willing to do so.

Almost half (48%) of Republicans say they would be willing to date someone with different political views, while fewer (40%) Democrats say the same.

Men (52%) are 17 percentage points more likely than women (35%) to say they would be willing to date someone with political views different from their own. Meanwhile, 44 percent of women say they would not be willing to date someone with different political views.

Additional polling from YouGov finds that most (55%) people say they and their significant other hold similar political views. About one in nine (11%) say they have a political view that’s different from their partner’s.

About two-thirds (65%) of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats say their partner’s political beliefs are similar to their own. Far fewer Republicans (11%) and Democrats (12%) say their significant other’s beliefs are different from their own. About one in five (21%) Republicans and 29 percent of Democrats say they do not currently have a significant other.

Subscribe to the YouGov Daily newsletter.

Related: Are humans naturally monogamous? Americans aren’t sure.

Methodology: The survey is based on the interviews of 5,462 US adults aged 18 and over. Interviews were conducted online August 10 – 11, 2020 and results are weighted to be nationally representative.

Image: The Gender Spectrum Collection