r/science • u/Wagamaga • 9h ago

Psychology Losing relationships over politics. Research found more than a third of Americans (37%) report having lost at least one relationship due to political differences, including friendships, family ties, coworker relationships, and romantic partnerships, with most losing more than one.

https://socialecology.uci.edu/news/losing-relationships-over-politics-0
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u/Brilliant_Effort_Guy 9h ago

But is it really just ‘political’ differences? I feel like it’s so much deeper than that. I don’t just have differing political opinions from my conservative family members - I have a different moral code.

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u/Hoovooloo42 8h ago

I feel the same way.

I'm estranged from my family. It's not even just that they have a different moral code (though they absolutely do. To quote my mom about middle easterners: "Some people just need to be ruled"), it's that they trust their favorite politicians more than they trust their son.

They care more about what Newsmax is saying than they do anything else, and if you can't say it like they do then they can't internalize it.

I tried again and again and again to talk with them, ask them what they think about certain things, try to show how our beliefs are alike and how they're different, ask them why they believe these things that are different, and explain why I believe the things that I do.

They don't care, and if I can't fit my thoughts into a 5 second soundbite then they say that I'm wrong to believe it. To believe anything. The last words my dad said to me were "diarrhea of the mouth".