The U.S. presidential election is drawing closer and Americans are stressed. Politics are increasingly visible off and online, even when dating. This isn't new; Mashable reported that political polarization on dating apps was thornier than ever in 2021. Three years on, nothing has changed (except with AI and fandom, maybe it's gotten worse?). The dating app Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) surveyed around 1,400 of its American users at the end of August and found that a vast majority care about political views when it comes to picking a partner.
Eighty-three percent of CMB daters would consider ending a relationship because of different political views. Around the same amount, 84 percent, would date someone who supports Kamala Harris, according to CMB's blog post. Meanwhile, 65 percent of CMB daters — including 77 percent of women on the app — wouldn't date someone who supports Donald Trump.
In terms of specific political issues, 31 percent said it'd be a dealbreaker if a partner has different views on women's reproductive rights. Eighteen percent said racial equality, and nine percent LGBTQ rights. Seventeen percent of CMB users have ended a relationship due to differing political views.
Most left-leaning CMB users, 89 percent, believe political alignment is at least "someone important" when choosing a partner. A lower number of right-leaning users (68 percent) feel the same way. Political compatibility matters more to the women surveyed, as 37 percent refuse to date someone with differing political views. Only 15 percent of men reported the same.
Women are also more likely to end a relationship over this issue than men: 22 percent of female users have ended a relationship over political differences, while only 13 percent of men have done the same. And, according to the survey, four out of five women who use CMB wouldn't vote for Trump. This includes 67 percent of Gen Z daters overall, with the generation being the most left-leaning and disinterested in dating someone with different political beliefs.
These statistics are somewhat aligned with what other researchers are seeing: Gen Z women are the most progressive group in the U.S., but Gen Z men lean more conservative, The Guardian reported. There's a "partisan gap" between the two that's almost doubled in the last 25 years.
CMB found that women's reproductive rights, racial equality, and LGBTQ rights are the political topics that matter most for relationship compatibility to Gen Z users. For millennials, it's reproductive rights, racial equality, and economic policy. For Gen X, it's reproductive rights, healthcare, and economic policy.
Earlier this year, Mashable reported that political apathy is a dealbreaker for daters, and these statistics report that. Regardless of who wins the presidential race, we know daters will be watching on Election Day.
