The couple said nearly a decade ago that their disagreements on public policy were tough, but that they were not deal-breakers for their marriage. Today, in an increasingly polarized environment, couples are finding it more difficult than in the past to prevent the rough-and-tumble chaos of American politics from negatively impacting their lives. Researchers now say that news media coverage is the biggest trigger for fights between romantic partners. Decisions about what news sources to consume have become “especially difficult,” according to a new study from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UI). News coverage “activated differences between partners that would have otherwise remained hidden, ultimately sparking conflict as well as discussion and debate,” the study found. “Their cross-cutting political views presented many challenges for these couples,” said UI communication professors Emily Van Duyn, who conducted the research. “Deciding which media to consume and whether to do so together or separately was difficult because it presented them with a choice about recognizing their political differences and finding a way to navigate them.” She added, “They saw the news as inherently political, and their selection of a news outlet or the act of sharing an article or video meant they were intentionally pulling their partner into a recognition of their political differences.” Some couples attempted to find a common news source they could agree to watch together, while others chose to watch the news independently, in separate rooms or by scrolling separate social media feeds. A 49-year-old Michigan woman who participated in the study switched from Republican to Democrat in the 2016 and 2020 elections. News sources were a significant source of conflict for her and her husband, who is a supporter of former President Donald Trump. The woman says her husband’s political views are now “diametrically opposed” to hers, and she now secretly watches CNN during the day when her husband is away. She also says she hides her political activism, which includes having worked as a text banker for the Democratic Party during the 2020 election. “The point in their relationship when couples’ political differences emerged affected how partners negotiated news with one another,” Van Duyn said. “While some were aware of their ideological differences at the outset of the relationship, other individuals found their shared tradition of amicably co-viewing the news together disrupted when their partners’ views or party affiliation changed. Negotiations around news selection in cross-cutting relationships involved a negotiation of political identity as much as of news exposure.”Arguably, the most famous politically divided couple is hard-nosed Democratic strategist James Carville and his staunch Republican wife Mary Matalin.
