Politics plays a role in finding a partner

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Cologne

News Release 3-Jun-2026

Affective polarization – i.e., an aversion toward supporters of the opposing party – has been shaping American society for years, including when it comes to finding a partner. A new sociological study by Dr Ansgar Hudde and Shannon Taflinger from the University of Cologne’s Department of Sociology and Social Psychology dives deeper into this phenomenon, examining how political information on a dating profile influences the romantic interest of young Americans. The study was published under the title, “Why do young US Americans avoid cross-partisan dating? A closer look at mediators and variation by gender and party” in the journal European Sociological Review.

The results of the study show that supporters of the Democratic Party are mainly distinguished by their reluctance to date supporters of the other party rather than by a preference for fellow Democrats. Republican supporters, by contrast, both favour fellow Republicans and avoid Democratic partners. The study additionally found that politics matters for dating because political views are often seen as reflecting a person’s values, lifestyle, character, and whether they expect their social circle to approve of dating someone.

In an online experiment, 1,097 Americans aged 20 to 33 evaluated fictional dating profiles similar to those found on dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, or Hinge. The profiles included the label ‘Democrat,’ ‘Republican,’ or no party affiliation. The results reveal that political party alignment has a significant impact on perception of the profile and the likelihood of making contact. While people have only a slight preference for supporters of their own party, they are far more likely to reject supporters of the other party.

The study shows that people infer non-political characteristics such as values, lifestyle, and character traits from political orientation. They also anticipate how their social circle might react – specifically, whether their family and friends would approve of a relationship with that person. “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.

Supporters of the Democratic and Republican parties differ significantly in how shared party affiliation shapes their dating preferences. While Republicans also show a clear preference for like-minded individuals, Democrats do not exhibit the same pattern. They rated Republican profiles lower than profiles with no party affiliation but made little distinction between the no party affiliation and Democratic profiles. “Many Democrats do not necessarily search for a fellow Democrat. They search for ‘not Republican’,” summarizes Taflinger. Shared political party is particularly important in dating for Democratic women, among whom rejection of the opposing political side is roughly four times more common than among Republican women or men.

While this study was conducted in the United States, the two researchers see parallels to dating behaviour in other societies, including European countries, alongside some country-specific differences.

Most other democracies have multiparty systems, where compatibility or rejection can differ across party constellations. When two people support different parties within the same broader political camp, they can bridge those differences more easily than supporters from opposite ends of the spectrum. “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,” says Hudde.

People around the world use apps like Bumble or Hinge to look for partners, indicating their political views alongside their occupation or relationship preferences. “Often you can dismiss someone for political reasons before you have exchanged a single word,” Hudde notes.

A further parallel concerns the political gender gap. In several countries, young women increasingly vote more left leaning than young men. In sum, Hudde expects the consequences to reach well beyond the United States: “Politics is likely to play an increasingly important role in dating in many countries — and to make the search for a partner more complicated.”