Psych News Alert: Most Americans Align With Family on Politics, but 1 in 5 Reports Estrangement

About 1 in 3 Americans anticipates having a heated political discussion with their family members this election season, and 6% expect family relations will get worse as a result, a new APA survey reveals.

“It is not surprising that some of us will find ourselves having heated conversations and disagreements on sensitive issues, even with the people we are close to,” said APA CEO and Medical Director Marketa M. Wills, M.D., M.B.A. “The most important thing for our collective mental health is to be mindful of how we are feeling during these tense moments, and to carefully consider the impact these interactions might be having on our important relationships.”

The survey was conducted among 2,201 adults from September 20-22 by Morning Consult. Results include:

• 67% of respondents said they align with close family members on political issues.
• 22% of adults said that conversations around controversial topics made them anxious, but slightly more (27%) said they enjoyed hearing different points of view.
• 41% of respondents reported that they had argued with a family member about a controversial issue.
• About 1 in 5 Americans reported each of the following: becoming estranged from a family member, blocking a family member on social media, or skipping a family event due to disagreements on controversial topics.

Earlier this year, the APA Council on Communications compiled tips on “How to Discuss Controversial Issues With Your Mental Health in Mind.” Among their recommendations:

• Decide carefully when it’s time to engage. If someone says something you disagree with, take a few minutes to think about the speaker’s personality traits and whether they are likely to engage thoughtfully with you, the outcome you would want to reach, and what you might want to say.
• Be ready to listen and consider whether you are ready to be open to someone else’s viewpoints.
• Set some ground rules, such as agreeing to let the other person talk before you start to speak or having a true willingness to learn from the other person.

“If a conversation feels like it may be turning in a direction that will adversely impact your mental health, consider politely excusing yourself from the conversation,” Wills said. “Or consider gently steering the conversation to less intense topics where you’ll be able to find more common ground.”

For related information, see APA’s “How to Discuss Controversial Issues With Your Mental Health in Mind.”

(Image: Getty Images/iStock/Andrii Yalanskyi)

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