Report · Politics

Most Americans don't mind if close friends belong to a different party

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Most Americans (57%) say they don't mind when people they're close to belong to a different political party, and nearly as many (54%) say the same about people outside their inner circle, a May 2026 Verasight survey finds.

That tolerance has limits, though: 30% say they have unfollowed or unfriended someone on social media because they do not agree politically, and smaller shares have pulled back from a friend (23%), a family member (20%), or a romantic partner (8%) over political differences, while 11% have ended a relationship entirely. Just 13% say none of these apply to them.

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Most Americans don't mind if close friends belong to a different party.

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  • I don't mind if people who I'm close to belong to a different political party 57.4%
  • I don't mind if people who are not in my inner circle belong to a different political party 54.0%
  • I have unfollowed or unfriended someone I know on social media because we do not agree politically 29.6%
  • I have avoided or stopped speaking as much to a friend over our political differences 22.7%
  • I have avoided or stopped speaking as much to a family member over our political differences 20.1%
  • None of the above 13.5%
  • I have ended a relationship with someone in my life because we have different political views 11.2%
  • I have avoided or stopped speaking as much to a romantic partner over our political differences 8.0%

2026 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.3%

politics

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-05-11 → 2026-05-11
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.3%
Module
politics

Source

Citation

Verasight SPSP Omnibus Survey #2026-045, fielded May 11-11, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.3%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/spsp26

Verasight survey methodology

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This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
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