Have you voted on how to handle politics with your loved ones this holiday season?
As the country is divided on the current election, so are many couples and families. And the heat from the debates is likely to linger well past Nov. 5.
After all, Americans today can’t stand a partner who doesn’t check the same name on the ballot as they do.
Only about 23 percent of couples have different political party affiliations, and less than 8 percent are made up of one Democrat and one Republican, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
However, while most couples seem to unite in their political beliefs, that doesn’t mean their family and friends are as likely to.
That’s why brides and grooms with wedding dates surrounding the upcoming election have set some rules — no alcohol, for example — or managed their expectations of how and what guests will be celebrating at their ceremonies.
But the unease that stems from political disagreements with loved ones likely goes deeper than the issue being debated.
“Within relationships, dissatisfaction with an election outcome might even mirror or magnify disagreements between couples and among families,” Rita Watson, a relationship expert, told Psychology Today.
This is especially timely as we gather — or avoid gathering — with every generation of our loved ones during the holiday season.
About 22% of travelers expect that politics could start a family feud during the holidays this year, according to a recent survey by the tourism market research firm Future Partners.
Those who more recently left the kids’ table are the most nervous.
Around 38% of Gen Z and 29% of millennial travelers are anxious about the table talk, compared with just 11% of Baby Boomers.
Some have even gone as far as canceling their festive family get-togethers.
Chirag Panchal, the founder of luxury travel agency Ensuite Collection, shared that he has a client who typically gathers the family from across the country to sit down for Thanksgiving dinner.
“But this year is different,” he told NBC News.
Some difficult political conversations pushed the children to express their concerns about getting everyone together — so they won’t.
“They have canceled going anywhere as a family,” Panchal said.
To help people make it through this stressful time with their loved ones, Watson shared some tips for salvaging your relationship after a heated political debate.
- Identify the problem or conflict.
- Assess the pros and cons of your feelings about the conflict.
- Put aside differences and identify what you have in common.
- Review reasons you are grateful for your partner, friends, or family.
- Focus on love and gratitude.
- Consider how you might make peace with the outcome of a situation, even the election, if it is not what you had wished.
- Ask yourself if there is a compromise; that is, a way to please yourself and others, without compromising your values.
