Valentine’s Day 2015 Poll: America is a Nation Divided When it Comes to Love
As Fox News pollsters pointed out in a recent survey, "lots of issues divide the country. Immigration. Taxes. ObamaCare..." And now in the spirit of Valentine's Day, researchers have looked into the heart of matters and found that when it comes to love, the United States is a nation divided.
The amorous survey, released on Thursday, examined several perspectives and aspects of love, including the belief of love at first sight, which was the question that most divided this country.
Before we get to that particular piece of the puzzle, let's look at the most logical results, the first of which found that married respondents are the largest group claiming to be in love at this time, with 92 percent claiming heartfelt involvement in a romantic relationship (though sadly 6 percent of married voters admit that they are not currently in love).
Interestingly, it seems money and love are an intricately woven duo, as Fox News found that, aside from married voters, the next largest demographic of those polled who say they are in love are those with an annual household income of at least $100,000, with 89 percent currently claiming to be in love with their partners. However, in homes where the household income is less than $50,000, only 55 percent of voters said that they were in a loving relationship.
When the pollsters looked at political affiliations of respondents claiming luck in love, the results were, well, interesting to say the least. Republicans (75 percent) are more likely than Independents (70 percent) and Democrats (62 percent) to have been in love when polled.
But maybe political affiliation doesn't matter after all if you consider the following statistic. According to the survey, voters say it's more important to choose a romantic partner who shares your sense of humor than your political views by a significant 80 percent -- 7 percent margin.
And while Republicans -- at 11 percent -- are reportedly three times as likely as Democrats -- at 4 percent -- to prioritize finding a partner who shares their politics, pollsters found that across the board large majorities of Democrats (85 percent), Independents (83 percent), and Republicans (75 percent) agree that it's more important to share laughs than political perspectives.
And now on to the eternal question -- where is the best place to find love in this fair country? According to the poll, the Midwest takes the No. 1 spot with 74 percent of residents living there saying that they are in love. Up close in second place is the Northeast, where 71 percent of residents currently claim to be smitten with a significant other. Voters living in the South are next on the list, with 67 percent vowing love and in last place are people living in the West, where 63 percent of voters claim to have found love.
Circling back to the most overt dividing factor assessed in this poll, in which the voters were split just about evenly, we arrive at the belief in love at first sight. Results of the survey show that 51 percent of respondents say they do indeed believe in the phenomenon, while nearly as many - 47 percent - claim the belief is largely hokum.
Putting those results under the microscope, the survey shows that belief in love at first sight has nothing to do with political affiliation, with 49 percent of Republicans and Democrats each on the bandwagon. Neither is there a gender gap, as 53 percent of male voters and 49 percent of female voters agree that it's possible. Also, it was found that age is nothing but a number in this case. Voters under the age of 45 are almost equally as likely as those over 45 to believe in love at first sight (52 percent and 50 percent, respectively).
The final noteworthy aspect of this poll was on the overall prevalence of people in love across the United States. All in all, approximately seven in 10 (69 percent, specifically) of those surveyed said that they are currently in love.
This Fox News poll was conducted by telephone with live interviewers between Feb. 8 - 10, 2015. Participants included 1,044 registered voters who were contacted via cell phone and landlines and chosen randomly to take part in the survey, which was a nationwide effort. The poll in its entirety has a margin of sampling error plus or minus 3 percentage points.
For the latest news & updates, follow reporter Bary Alyssa Johnson on Twitter: @MissBary
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