College Students Don’t Want To Dorm With Those Who Vote Differently
A new survey found that the majority of college students don't want to dorm with those who vote differently from them.
The majority of college students hold a bias against individuals who have different political beliefs from themselves. A new poll measured just how great this divide truly is. More than half of young adults do not want to share a dorm room with students who voted differently than them in the 2020 election.
This was revealed by an NBC News/Generation Lab survey which asked the class of 2025 a number of political questions. These college students were polled last year when they entered campus as freshmen. They were also asked about their hopes for the future, their current mental state, and what they think about the country’s direction.
Although most students are optimistic about their future, they continue to believe the United States is on the wrong track and suffer from high levels of anxiety and depression. This comes just after it was revealed that more than half of college students suffer from mental illness. The connection between mental illness and political affiliation has been measured in recent years. A 2020 PEW Research study found that white liberals were more than twice as likely to be treated for mental illness than white conservatives. This may offer some insight into the political divide for many college students.
62% of the NBC poll respondents who said they would “probably not” room or “definitely not” room with someone who voted differently from them were democrats, while only 28% of republicans responded similarly. Based on this information, conservative college students are more tolerant of others who do not hold their same beliefs. Tolerance and understanding are generally reached from sound thought processes which may be disrupted by mental issues.
Despite this, when it came to dating, the ratios were less vast. 53% of college students admitted that they “probably wouldn’t” date someone who voted differently from them, but 47% “probably would.” These numbers are curious, being that when asked if they would marry someone who voted differently than them, a whopping two-thirds could not see themselves accepting that scenario.
The poll didn’t seem to measure the response from independent, third-party voters. This left a solid two-party split that left researchers astounded. The Generation Labs founder noted that second-year college students have Trump dorms and Biden dorms. This is a major shift from trends in 2015.
Politics have become so divisive that college students are discriminating against those who voted for a different political candidate than they did in 2020 when it comes to housing, dating, and the prospect of marriage. It is a serious sign of the times. While generations past were full of voters who kept their politics private and respected everyone’s right to choose who they deem most fit to serve in office, the majority of modern young adults see opposing voters as individuals to avoid.
How this will affect future generations is uncertain. But the country has been experiencing a serious split. Democrats specifically have taken a strong stance against individuals who vote differently than them, much more so than republicans and that shows a bias that has been erupting on college campuses since the 2016 election.
