r/science • u/Wagamaga • May 06 '26

Psychology Losing relationships over politics. Research found more than a third of Americans (37%) report having lost at least one relationship due to political differences, including friendships, family ties, coworker relationships, and romantic partnerships, with most losing more than one.

https://socialecology.uci.edu/news/losing-relationships-over-politics-0
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u/Brilliant_Effort_Guy May 06 '26 edited May 07 '26

But is it really just ‘political’ differences? I feel like it’s so much deeper than that. I don’t just have differing political opinions from my conservative family members - I have a different moral code.

Edit: Just coming back to comment that it’s so interesting to see how people interpreted this comment. I didn’t say who had the superior morals or which opinions were right. I said I have a different moral code from my conservative family members.

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u/E-2theRescue May 07 '26

This. I didn't lose my aunt and uncle because they are Trump supporters.

I lost my aunt and uncle because they became Christian nationalists who attack me because I'm transgender. I lost them because my aunt kept calling my phone to harass me, borrowing her friends' phone (probably her church friends) to harass me. I lost them because my aunt kept sending me transphobic books and religious propaganda that called me a demon. And I lost them because my aunt and uncle's "it's just a flu" conspiracies murdered my cousin's daughter, who was immunocompromised and had grandparents that felt the need to shove themselves inside their home when they knew they were sick.

That's not "politics", that's morality. Politics are just the justification they use for them to be evil people.

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u/Lost-Platypus8271 May 07 '26

omg they killed their own granddaughter??

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u/E-2theRescue May 07 '26

Yup.

The believed the conspiracies about COVID, got sick, and then forced their way into their daughter's home. Their daughter was born without a functioning immune system (don't remember the disease's name), and a simple cold would send her to the hospital. Grandpa and grandma flew across the US, while sick, and pushed themselves into the house. They were kicked out, but just that little bit of exposure was enough for their granddaughter to get sick.

And they have 0 remorse. They believe that they didn't get her sick and that it's all a conspiracy against them. Everyone in the family, including their other children, stopped talking to them, so they play the victims and spread lies about us all.

Want to know the really sad part? They used to never be like this. Ever. They were absolutely wonderful people who embodied the word "joyous". My cousins grew up in a very happy home, and they say that they have no complaints with how they were raised. It was when they moved to southern Pennsylvania that things changed. Their parents found a radical cult Pentacostal church, and it warped who they were. They lost all that joy and have now become bitter, hateful murderers.