DR. PAUL A. DJUPE, From OneTwentySeven—A defining feature of American politics is the deep animosity partisans have for those of the other party.
They don’t like each other, they won’t date each other, and they’d be unhappy if their offspring married someone with another party affiliation. Recent research, however, questions some of these findings, suggesting that survey representations of these sentiments are inaccurate and inflated. The researchers argue that once you have people reflect on people they actually know of the other party, their animosity is much reduced.