Overview
- An analysis of four datasets totaling nearly 3,800 people, published Thursday in PNAS Nexus, found that 37% of Americans have ended a relationship over politics.
- The study labels these splits “political breakups,” which most often involve friends (62%), followed by family (40%), coworkers (29%), and romantic partners (10%).
- Breakups have become more common since 2016, with 2024 election splits surpassing 2016 levels in roughly half the time and ANES panel data showing more family harm in 2024 than in 2020.
- Democrats reported more such ruptures than Republicans (47% vs 29%) and were more likely to say they initiated them (66% vs 27%), with independents reporting 39%.
- People who reported breakups felt colder toward opposing voters and candidates and saw the other side as more extreme, which the authors say can deepen polarization and loneliness.