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.
George Melios
Researcher
My research primarily focuses on the foundations of democracy how democratic institutions function, how citizens interact with them and how they can be improved.