As we approach Christmas and New Year's, I was curious to find out how many families are politically divided, so to speak. In thinking about my own family, I’m the youngest of five and we’re all married, immediate family there’s not really any political dissension. Sure, we differ a bit on specific issues but generally, there’s more common ground than not. Even when extended family is included during the holiday get-togethers, it’s generally family that’s on the same page politically.
It got me to thinking about whether we’re more inclined to identify with and gravitate toward family we find the most common ground with politically, but that’s for another day. As for the research, Pew Research happened to study this in the not-so-distant past and found that most families are on the same page politically.
On the question of whether your family shares your political views:
- 42%: Most
- 26%: A few
- 22%: Almost everyone
- 9%: Almost no one
That means, that 64% or nearly two-thirds of families are pretty much on the same page politically while fewer than 10% go off in a completely different direction. As it turns out only about a third of people are likely a bit uncomfortable when politics come up when the family gets together but then again, it only takes one and every family seems to have one, don't they?
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