# Love Styles, Conservative and Liberal Version



## Peony (Jul 19, 2016)

Ah, love.  Wonderful, elusive, beautiful love, longed for, lived for, fervently sought after by most all human beings- including conservatives and liberals.  Unfortunately, the differences between conservatives and liberals muck up romance- at least half the time.

OKCupid, an online dating service, conducted a survey to see if they could measure the effect politics have on love.


“Whether we’re aware of it or not, our political beliefs influence how we advertise ourselves romantically. To dig into this, we looked at words used on tens of thousands of OkCupid profiles to see which ones best distinguish liberals and conservatives, and then compared those words to OkCupid match questions.

Why? Because today, the amount of OkCupid users who couldn’t date someone with opposing political views is at 50% — a number that’s been rising since 2008. It turns out your vote really does count.”

Words and Politics

According to OKCupid’s survey results, more and more people looking for a love match won’t even consider a person who does not share their political outlook.  Maybe there’s a good reason for that.  Survey results hint that character traits and interests and values just may be influenced by politics.

For instance, conservatives tend to prefer activities like grilling and shooting a gun at a gun range, while liberals tend to prefer dining at a vegetarian restaurant and looking around a museum.  What does this suggest?  Conservatives prefer to do things themselves, while liberals prefer to partake of what someone else has done.

Let’s look at more study results.  Liberals indicate a fondness for crying, while conservatives indicate an admiration for Marines.  You might describe this difference as  liberals blubber while conservatives keep a stiff upper lip.

When it comes to influential voices, conservatives look to Jesus, while liberals choose NPR.  In other words, God vs Government.

Americana?  Conservatives use descriptive words like faith, old fashioned, loyalty, family.  Liberals use words like sex, social justice, atheist, feminist.

One thing conservatives and liberals seem to agree on is that it’s nice to be outside under the sky. Still, there’s some contrast.  Conservatives call it being outdoors, liberals call it nature.

OkCupid: Liberals More Likely to Cry Than Conservatives


What does all this mean?   Is refusal to love outside of one’s political persuasion replacing refusal to love outside of one’s faith or race?  Or is it simply that conservatives and liberals really are so different that the likelihood of them falling in love with one another is as likely as a feminist celebrating manhood or a Christian embracing social relativism?

What do we learn from the way people describe themselves to get a date?  Is there something deeply meaningful here?  How deep is unclear.  It does however, point to the likelihood that political identity drives -or at least supports- other identity factors.

It is reasonable to conclude that to a large extent, our political beliefs mirror our core beliefs.  Nonetheless, some important qualities one seeks in a potential lover are *not* governed by political affiliation.  For instance, surely conservatives and liberals are equally concerned with important stuff like attention to personal hygiene and basic manners.   

Perhaps another survey is in order!  After all, in dating, as in all life’s challenges, it’s vital to know what you’re up against.


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## The Great Goose (Jul 19, 2016)

So that's what I'm doing wrong. Even my language is stopping me from netting a liberal!

I thought it was only my sense of humour.


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## yiostheoy (Jul 19, 2016)

Peony said:


> Ah, love.  Wonderful, elusive, beautiful love, longed for, lived for, fervently sought after by most all human beings- including conservatives and liberals.  Unfortunately, the differences between conservatives and liberals muck up romance- at least half the time.
> 
> OKCupid, an online dating service, conducted a survey to see if they could measure the effect politics have on love.
> 
> ...


Very informative, thank you.

Likes do tend to attract each other, while opposites tend only to be co-dependent.

That's not rocket science.


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## Compost (Jul 20, 2016)

yiostheoy said:


> Peony said:
> 
> 
> > Ah, love.  Wonderful, elusive, beautiful love, longed for, lived for, fervently sought after by most all human beings- including conservatives and liberals.  Unfortunately, the differences between conservatives and liberals muck up romance- at least half the time.
> ...


This just in.  OK Cupid's next survey:  Love, Rocket Scientist Style.


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## JoeMoma (Jul 26, 2016)

Does Cupid have a right to that bow and arrow?  I understand he has been shooting unarmed people.


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## LABlk (Jul 28, 2016)

When we were dating, hubby asked me if I would ever vote Democrat. He figured his future wife would be someone who would promise to vote for a conservative, always. I let him know that I wouldn't be able to marry a man who asked me to vote his conscience instead of my own. He is really the world's best husband, but kinda a dork sometimes


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## mamooth (Jul 29, 2016)

Long ago, when eHarmony was fairly new, I filled out and submitted their questionnaire.

They came back informing me that they could not match me with any other human being on planet earth.

I'm very proud of that. I wish I had saved the screenshot.


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## Frank Apisa (Jul 30, 2016)

Peony, from reading your essay, I get the impression you would not connect well with any liberals in an on-line dating service.

There is stereotyping...and STEREOTYPING.

You seem disposed to the latter. 

I agree with your implication that political attitudes reflect core attitudes. But your thoughts about liberals and conservatives, even though qualified with that "studies show" stuff...is out of control.


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## Iceweasel (Jul 30, 2016)

In my experience with dating online and real time, reading the ino and forums: A conservative guy would go for a liberal woman. A liberal woman won't have anything to do with a conservative guy. Liberals tend to think conservatives are stupid, backwards and hateful.


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## Statistikhengst (Jul 31, 2016)

Uh, I dunno, when I'm on top of a beautiful woman, the last thing I'm thinking about is her politics....

...just sayin...


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## hjmick (Jul 31, 2016)

Is this an Op-ed or an advertisement for OKCupid?


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## Compost (Jul 31, 2016)

hjmick said:


> Is this an Op-ed or an advertisement for OKCupid?


Did you even read it?  It was a tongue-in-check peek into computer dating and poked fun at pop psychology.  It was rather amusing.


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## Dogmaphobe (Aug 1, 2016)

Statistikhengst said:


> Uh, I dunno, when I'm on top of a beautiful woman, the last thing I'm thinking about is her politics....
> 
> ...just sayin...









and I can certainly understand why.


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## Moonglow (Aug 3, 2016)

Dogmaphobe said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > Uh, I dunno, when I'm on top of a beautiful woman, the last thing I'm thinking about is her politics....
> ...


You could play spades on that ass.....


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## Moonglow (Aug 3, 2016)

The Great Goose said:


> So that's what I'm doing wrong. Even my language is stopping me from netting a liberal!
> 
> I thought it was only my sense of humour.


Try a seine...


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## The Great Goose (Aug 3, 2016)

Moonglow said:


> The Great Goose said:
> 
> 
> > So that's what I'm doing wrong. Even my language is stopping me from netting a liberal!
> ...


wut?


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## Moonglow (Aug 3, 2016)

The Great Goose said:


> Moonglow said:
> 
> 
> > The Great Goose said:
> ...


Try seine instead of a net......


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