Survey: Republicans Report Higher Relationship Satisfaction Than Democrats

Republicans are more satisfied with their relationships than Democrats, polling from the Survey Center on American Life found. 

Republican men (46 percent) are most likely to report being “completely satisfied” in their relationships — a stark contrast from 29 percent of Democrat women. Forty-two percent of Republican women also say they are completely satisfied by their relationships, as are 36 percent of Democrat men. 

“The Republican advantage in relationship satisfaction holds even after accounting for differences in educational attainment, race and ethnicity, age, and religious affiliation,” wrote Daniel Cox, the director of Survey Center on American Life. 

The center interviewed a random sample of 5,055 U.S. adults between December 9-18, 2022, and the margin of error is ±1.5 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence.

New: Striking differences in marital satisfaction by partisanship in #ValentinesWeek survey:

✔️ Republican men 10 percentage pts happier than D men

✔️ Republican women 13 percentage pts happier than D womenhttps://t.co/GAmgDZavLQ @amersurveyctr pic.twitter.com/FK1TbksaA2

— Brad Wilcox (@BradWilcoxIFS) February 10, 2023

Politics play a huge role in who people choose to date and form relationships with. Notably, both Republicans and Democrats “report being similarly averse to dating across the political aisle,” according to the survey. In fact, 65 percent of Democrats say they are less likely to date a Republican, and 62 percent of Republicans say the same of Democrats. 

“Despite the salience of politics in dating, partisans appear to place less importance on dating someone who exactly shares their affiliation. About half of Republicans (51 percent) and Democrats (54 percent) say they would be more likely to date someone who identifies with their respective party,” Cox wrote. 

Unsurprisingly, being a fan of former President Donald Trump is also a dealbreaker for most Democrats. Eighty-four percent of Democrats say they would be less likely to date a Trump supporter, including 74 percent who say it would make them “a lot less likely.” On the other side of the aisle, 35 percent of GOP voters say they would be more likely to date a Trump supporter, and 14 percent would be less likely. 

“No group of women expresses greater objections to dating a Trump supporter than liberal women do. More than nine in 10 (91 percent) claim they would be less likely to date a Trump supporter, including 84 percent who say they would be “a lot” less likely to do this,” the survey found. 

Correspondingly, being a feminist is “more of a liability than an advantage in dating” for those on the right. Four in ten (42 percent) of those polled say they are less likely to date someone who describes themselves as a feminist, and only 15 percent are more likely. Forty percent self-described feminism has no influence on their decision to date someone.

“Men and women differ somewhat in their preferences for dating someone who is a feminist, but even women view it more negatively than positively. Thirty-nine percent of women, compared to 55 percent of men, would be less likely to date a feminist, while 21 percent say they would be more likely to date someone who identifies this way,” Cox wrote. “Conservative men express the greatest objection to dating feminists, with 70 percent reporting they would be less inclined.”

Lifestyle choices, like smoking, vaccination status, and veganism, are also dealbreakers for many Americans. Seventy-seven percent of Americans say they are less inclined to date a smoker, a sentiment shared by both men and women. Almost half (49 percent) would be “less inclined to date someone who is skeptical of vaccines,” however, 10 percent say they would be more likely and 39 percent say it does not matter. The vaccine question varies greatly along partisan lines, with 70 percent of Democrats rejecting vaccine skeptics, compared to 27 percent of GOP voters.

And despite the endless list of milk substitutes and global elites’ push to go vegan, 40 percent of Americans are more likely to forego dating supposedly earth-conscious herbivores, while three percent are more likely.

“The majority (54 percent) of Americans report that this would not matter to them. Conservatives report having more reservations about dating a vegan than liberals do (51 percent vs. 39 percent, respectively),” Cox wrote.