Stone is a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. They recently wrote in The Atlantic that those shifting ideological trends pose real barriers to finding someone dating date, impacting future family formation. Their research focused on opposite-sex couples and concluded that if they highly value political sameness as a crucial ingredient for cooking up a relationship, conservative men may not find a lot of conservative women.
Liberal women may face the same challenge looking for liberal men. The two woman not alone in suggesting political opposites may not attract or that the ideology gap is striking. Polls suggest a significant chunk of single Americans would be reluctant to date someone of a different political persuasion.
Politics since have become more radical, he said, primarily in terms of young women moving ideologically to the left. Additionally, relationships are more apt to thrive when couples have roughly the same worldview on questions like politics, work and family, how many kids to have and religion. The Deseret News took a decidedly unscientific approach to finding out what daters think, asking some unattached young adults how much political symmetry determines who they date.
Political like-mindedness mattered a lot to some, but not so much to others. They differed on race and religion, too. A sampling of viewpoints:. Blaise Justice23, of Oklahoma City, sees lots of her peers getting married and she has no urge to do so yet.
She comes from a mixed political home. Her mom and dad have never been on the same page politically, at least in general terms. An appealing trait in a potential mate is willingness to listen to others and keep learning and liberal.
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She suspects her political views, which are generally more liberal than those dating many of her peers, might make it hard to find a partner. It would depend on the person — and their approach to disagreeing, she adds. Hot-button topics like abortion or gun laws are more apt to be polarizing.
Seth Berlin woman, 25, will be moving to San Francisco soon to work as a growth equity investor.
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Berlin thinks their political views are very similar, both quite conservative — his views a reflection, he says, of his family and its self-reliant, roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic. The religious component was a prerequisite to dating, he says. Devin Wells25, now lives in Lawrence, Kansas, where liberal works in advertising. He divorced last year and is now in a relationship. Wells thinks two people who are dating should definitely have political conversations because that also shows other aspects of life.
Does she care about these things? Is she up to date? And if we married and have kids, what kind of values would we be instilling? He thinks people may be more willing to marry across religious than political learn more here because religion feels private, while political views are more social and people judge each other for them.
What happens to dating and family if young adults move further apart politically?
Samantha Corbridge26, is a Utah State University graduate who studied kinesiology and psychology before starting graduate school at the University of Utah to become an occupational therapist. Political differences would matter because the last few years have been so polarized, she says.
But she recognizes that things can be slanted and consider, buzzfeed dating sites too can be hard to tell. Wording in polls may change how someone answers. They shared values, though, she says. Corbridge wants a loving, healthy relationship woman believes dating may be tricky to find someone who shares some of her political beliefs while appreciating her love of her religion.
Rachael Berhan25, is doing a graphic design internship in Covington, Kentucky. She says her most important issue is how people treat each other. I think everyone should be super kind to everyone regardless and show respect. Race is no deal-breaker; her mother is white and her father is Black. Their home has always been a safe and liberal place to talk about issues. Mariana Ferreira21, was born in Brazil and her family moved to the United States when she was a child.
She studies biology at Southern Utah University. She does think politics could be a deal breaker in a romantic relationship, depending on the issue.
Other political differences could be harder to overcome. Politics InDepth Family. Published: June 20,p. An illustration of a half blue and half red heart hookup hotshot 376 apart. Eliza Anderson, Deseret News. By Lois M. Collins Lois M. Collins is a special projects and family issues reporter at Deseret News, including health, parenting and family policy.
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