TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A study by Florida State University\u2019s Institute for Governance and Civics shows a deepening political divide in our country, which is increasingly impacting our social circles.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisagreement Under Strain: Trends in the American Experience of Political Conflict\u201d was released earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese findings show that Americans are struggling to navigate political disagreement and conversation in their everyday life,\u201d study author and IGC researcher Zach Goldberg said.<\/p>\n
The IGC drew data from dozens of national surveys and studies over the past decade. <\/p>\n
Among the report\u2019s findings:<\/p>\n
Talking about politics is more stressful than it\u2019s been in the past and people are more pessimistic that we can bridge those political differences.A vast majority of Americans believe people of the opposite political party do not share their values and goals and beyond that, are more immoral and dishonest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a surprise to anyone that the public is split, that there is polarization. That\u2019s not surprising,\u201d FSU IGC Director Ryan Owens said. \u201cWhat I found surprising and frankly alarming is people\u2019s views toward opposite partisans in terms of morality. The data shows pretty clearly that the public finds opposite partisans less moral and less trustworthy than the average American.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study also documented that political disagreements are increasingly impacting our family life and social circles. <\/p>\n
More Tallahassee News<\/p>\n
The report found that compared to a decade ago, Americans are now two to three times as likely to report that a major family gathering like Thanksgiving dinner was \u2018ruined\u2019 by political arguments.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps the clearest indication that political disagreement has taken on deeper social meaning is Americans\u2019 growing discomfort with marriage across political lines,\u201d the report said. It shows that in 2024, about 45% of Democrats and 38% of Republicans reported displeasure with their children marrying someone from the other political party.<\/p>\n
28% of Americans say they\u2019ve lost friends because of political disagreements, the study found, and we are increasingly surrounding ourselves with people who share our political views.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what we seem to be doing as a country right now is doubling down on existing beliefs, polarized existing beliefs, and that\u2019s a real problem,\u201d Owens said, \u201dbecause what we need to do is associate ourselves with others who don\u2019t necessarily agree with us, to challenge our views and just recognize that there is so much more to life than politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur civic health is in crisis, but civic education is the cure and that is one of the most important things we can take away from this data,\u201d Owens said. \u201cAs you can see from the results here, the data are pretty damning. Sort of alarming. We have our work cut out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
To view the full study, click here<\/a>. To learn more about FSU\u2019s Institute for Governance and Civics, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, Nextdoor<\/a> <\/a>and X<\/a> (Twitter<\/a>).<\/p>\n Have a news tip or see an error? Write to us here<\/a>. Please include the article\u2019s headline in your message.<\/p>\n Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click here<\/a> to get started.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n