‘Sleeping with the enemy’: Partisan sorting in online dating

Abstract

How do politics affect non-political decisions? A key aspect of this question concerns the extent to which partisan biases stem from out-group animus or assumptions about associated traits. To address this question, we focus on online dating to identify factors that mitigate these biases. Through a conjoint experiment with 3,000 UK participants, we disentangle the influence of partisanship from political and non-political confounding factors. We show that partisanship and physical appearance equally influence dating decisions. At the same time though, political tolerance has a significantly stronger effect. Our results also indicate important asymmetries in preferences among partisans. While both exhibit an in-party bias, Labour supporters were roughly twice as likely to choose co-partisan dates compared to Conservatives. Counter-stereotypic traits mitigate partisan biases among Conservatives but exacerbate them among Labour supporters. The overarching theme discerned is clear while partisanship undoubtedly holds sway in the dating realm, other factors — many previously overlooked or under-emphasized — can meaningfully mediate its influence.

Yara Sleiman

Postdoctoral Fellow

My research is on how democratic participation is shaped by political cross-pressures, situations where voters are subjected to conflicting influences that affect their political preferences.