Politically left-leaning women four times more likely to reject right-wing partners

Politically left-leaning women four times more likely to reject right-wing partners

Political affiliation has become a significant factor when selecting a romantic partner, finds new research from the University of Cologne.

The study, conducted by Dr Ansgar Hudde and doctoral candidate Shannon Taflinger, presented over 1000 Americans aged 20-33 with fictional dating profiles labelled as democrat, republican, or containing no political information.

They found that seeing a partner from the opposing party decreased romantic interest roughly four times more sharply for democratic women than for republican women or men. Across groups, political labels were used as proxies for values, lifestyle, and character.

The study also revealed that democrats do not search for a fellow democrat, they specifically search for ‘not republican,’ whereas republicans both avoid democrats and show a clear preference for those who are also republican.

“Before you message someone on a dating app or swipe left or right, you only have a profile in front of you – and you have to make a quick judgment: Are we a good match? Do we have similar interests? Is the person friendly, open-minded, and intelligent? If a profile includes political orientation, people use that information to answer exactly those kinds of questions,” says doctoral researcher Shannon Taflinger.

This trend is not confined to the United States, a common feature across many countries is a widespread rejection of radical-right parties and their supporters, and this might extend to dating as well.

“As political dating filters spread across global platforms and a widening gender gap sees young women voting more left-leaning than young men in many countries, politics is likely to play an increasingly important role in dating, and make the search for a partner more complicated,” says Dr. Ansgar Hudde.

The study was published in the journal European Sociological Review.



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For more information, a copy of the research, or to speak with the researchers, please contact Katie on khurley@bluesky-pr.com.