Study finds Reform voters more datable than Tories

(Press-News.org) Reform voters enjoy more success on dating apps than Conservative voters, according to new research from the University of Southampton and Harvard University.

The study, published in the Journal of Politics found that even left-wing voters are more likely to swipe right (‘like’) on a Reform voter’s profile than a Conservative voter.

Dating preferences were heavily split along the left-right divide, with left-wing voters more likely to reject someone on the right than vice-versa.

Researchers say increasing polarisation is driving centre-right voters into the arms of potential romantic partners to their political right, and away from those on the centre-left.

 “Voters from the two main parties are very unlikely to want to date someone from the other party,” says Dr Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte, lead author of the study from the University of Southampton. “Conservative voters were much happier to match with a Reform UK voter than someone who voted Labour.

“This isn’t about falling in love with the radical right. It’s about Conservative voters being more comfortable dating someone they disagree with on some things than dating someone from the opposite ideological camp altogether. That’s a striking illustration of just how polarized our societies have become.”

Overall, Labour, Green, and Lib Dem voters had a better chance of getting a match than Reform and Conversative voters, likely due to the fact people who use dating apps tend to be younger and therefore more socially liberal.

With radical right parties enjoying success in the polls, researchers wanted to see if voting for Reform UK or Vox in Spain carried any social stigma that might put off other dating app users.

To find out, 2,000 18- to 40-year-olds (who make up 85 percent of Tinder users) in Britain and Spain were asked to swipe left (reject) or right (like) on more than 20,000 different fictitious dating profiles using an online app.

The profiles were AI-generated variations of attractive men and women’s faces. Their bios contained information including their occupation, hobbies, interests, and schooling, and some included an indication of who they voted for.

Dr Alberto López Ortega, a co-author on the paper from Harvard University, says: “While Reform voters had a below average favourably on dating apps, they are four points more likely to enjoy success on the dating market than Conservative supporters.

“This suggests that dating a Reform UK voter is not ‘beyond the pale’ and support for the radical right has become more normalised. That said, we found expressing support for either party is likely to be a ‘red flag’ for more left-wing dating app users.”

In Spain, Vox supporting profiles had less chance of being matched than other parties, but those on the right were 47 per cent more likely to ‘like’ them than those on the left.

Researchers say tolerance of radical right parties means centre right parties may be more likely to engage with them, as there seems to be little risk of alienating their own voters in doing so.

“When there’s no social stigma for supporting the radical right, the electoral cost of cooperation collapses,” said Dr Turnbull-Dugarte. “This helps explain why mainstream parties like the Conservatives (and even more recently Labour) have increasingly adopted copy-cat positions on immigration, or why the idea of a Tory-Reform pact no longer feels far-fetched.

“If voters don’t punish the association — and might even prefer it — then the political incentive to hold the line against radical right positions simply disappears.”

The paper Far Right Normalization & Centrifugal Affect. Evidence from the Dating Market is published in the Journal of Politics and is available online.

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Contact

Steve Williams, Media Manager, University of Southampton, press@soton.ac.uk or 023 8059 3212.

Notes for editors

The paper Far Right Normalization & Centrifugal Affect. Evidence from the Dating Market is published in the Journal of Politics. An advanced copy is available upon request. For Interviews with Dr Stuart Dr Turnbull-Dugarte please contact Steve Williams, Media Manager, University of Southampton press@soton.ac.uk or 023 8059 3212. Images available here: https://safesend.soton.ac.uk/pickup?claimID=onyERkzeiuiCAQnA&claimPasscode=MnTQQ8gwfRsCaCPw Additional information

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