Overcoming Americans’ Hesitancy to Connect across Political Divides

• In Event: How Americans See Each Other across Lines of Division

Abstract

Partisan animosity, defined as feelings of hostility between members of different political parties, is at high levels in the US (1), fueling democratic institutional retrenchment. One way to help temper these feelings, specifically at the local community level, is through facilitating positive intergroup contact: face-to-face contact between people who have differing political views. Research has shown that, if done well, this type of contact can increase feelings of empathy and trust and lower feelings of threat and anxiety between groups (2, 3). As such, we examine how US adults engage and interact with each other, including across lines of political difference. How interested are Americans in connecting across political divides, and how do we encourage it to build social cohesion?

We present the results of a nationally representative survey from August 2023 of N=1,000 U.S. adults examining how Americans connect across political lines of difference. We measure five types of engagement: attending a social event, having a conversation, forming close friendships, talking about group relations, and willingness to live in integrated communities. The results show that only 34% of Americans currently interact frequently across political lines of difference. Willingness to connect is lowest across political lines of difference (p <.001)—compared to across racial, class, and religious lines—even when adjusting for participant gender, race, political ideology, and religious importance. Indeed, while many Americans agree that greater integration of people with different backgrounds would make their communities better places to live, integration across political lines of difference receives the least support. Among those not already interacting often across political differences, “lacking energy” is the top reason cited. These results suggest that among the kinds of differences we tested, political ideology is unique. It presents a significant barrier to willingness to engage and connect with others.

As for why we see this hesitancy and lack of energy, we tested many social, environmental, and psychological predictors of willingness to connect across political lines of difference, including demographics, personality, social dominance orientation, local norms, and sense of belonging. The best predictor is local cross-partisan interaction norms: that is, how frequently people do engage and how much people ought to engage across political divides in their local communities (p < .001). We also find that 72% Americans agree that we have a shared responsibility to connect across lines of difference, with Democrats even more likely to agree. Finally, we see that people who feel belonging at the local community level are more interested in having a conversation with people who have different political views than them. These findings suggest that perceptions of local communities—from prevailing norms to one's sense of belonging—significantly influence willingness to engage with others.

Our study indicates that the crisis of social connection in America is not just a national health problem but a democracy problem manifest in our local communities. Connecting across political lines of difference is not very appealing to Americans across the political spectrum. Still, we know intergroup contact can lessen political polarization and rebuild the healthy norms that undergird democratic institutions. Interventions may do well to focus on shifting local community norms, sense of shared responsibility, and feelings of belonging to start eroding our hesitancy to connect with political outgroup members.

Sources Cited:
(1) More in Common (2023). https://moreincommon.substack.com/p/new-study-a-promising-method-to-build.
(2) Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2008). How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta‐analytic tests of three mediators. European journal of social psychology, 38(6), 922-934.
(3) Swart, H., Hewstone, M., Christ, O., & Voci, A. (2011). Affective mediators of intergroup contact: a three-wave longitudinal study in South Africa. Journal of personality and social psychology, 101(6), 1221.

Authors

• Calista Small, More in Common

• Ashley Fabrizio, Stanford University

• Natasha Gordon, Columbia University