The Affect Of Political Stance On Attraction

Previous research shows that Republicans and Democrats do not get along. They avoid dating each other, and desire not to live with each other. Since we know this, the question that remains is would you consider someone equally as attractive as you did before knowing his or her political stance? This current study utilized the concept of political stance as an aspect of ones identity to attempt to show the impact of similarity of political stance on attraction. 95 females and 27 males with a mean age of = 26.7 (SD = 14.81) were asked what political stance they take on a scale of 1-4 1 being very liberal and 4 being very conservative. The headshots of the confederates were male and female and had their political stance on a scale of 1-4 attached
Those who identify as strictly democratic tend to be liberal, and inversely those who are strictly republican tend to be conservative. Evidence shows us that liberals and conservatives don’t enjoy each other. Research suggests that people who have opposing political backgrounds desire not to live near one another and disapprove of the idea that their offspring would marry someone outside of their party (Suh 2014.) Due to politics being a very popular topic of discussion, it is interesting to consider the effect political stance has on attraction, if any effect at all. Politics would have a strong influence on attraction because political stance is part of someone’s personal identity. When someone’s identity is threatened they immediately become defensive because their identity is shaped by their actions. Greene, Steven. (1999.) Actions take place based on ones belief system; our belief system shapes our political identity. Thus if someone challenges our beliefs what chance is there for attraction to take place? This study uses the Webster’s dictionary definition of attraction being “the action or power of evoking interest, pleasure, or liking for someone or
If someone is put along side someone who’s political stance is not similar, they may have a lower sense of attraction to that person. Knowing someone’s political stance can reveal a lot about a ones identity, which could give one insight on a persons morals and beliefs. Morals and beliefs are often displayed through leaning towards a liberal mindset or conservative mindset. It isn’t just about the physiological response to someone’s physical attributes. Actual similarity is important in no-interaction and short-interaction studies R. Matthew Montoya Robert S. Horton Jeffrey Kirchner (2008.) Political stance conclusively could be the most informative aspect about a person’s identity and can potentially predict an initial attraction, regardless of physical attributes. Our research attempts to give us that