In Switzerland political affiliation and love go hand in hand

In Switzerland political affiliation and love go hand in hand Keystone-SDA

The Swiss often form a relationship with someone on the same political wavelength. This is particularly evident for parties at the poles of the political divide, such as the Swiss People's Party and the Social Democratic Party.

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Moreover, while women seem to pay more attention to their partners’ party affiliation, men prioritise values.

This is the finding of a representative survey commissioned by an association for tolerance and gender dialogue, the results of which are published today by the NZZ am Sonntag. The study, conducted by the research institute Sotomo, was also made available to the Keystone-ATS news agency.

According to the survey, 69% of voters for the right-wing Swiss-People’s Party and 61% of voters for the left-wing Social Democratic Party say they are in a relationship with a person close to their party. And when Swiss men and women “cheat”, they usually do so in their “political neighbourhood”.

+ Political rifts are less deep in Switzerland than elsewhere

In general, supporters of the People’s Party and the left-wing Greens showed the least openness when it comes to relationships with those who think differently. In the market for romantic relationships, voters from the Centre Party are the most popular. While the Liberal Greens are the most open to a relationship outside their political hives.

Feminism and veganism reasons for rejection

The Sotomo Institute also asked a question about values. This revealed that respondents express more specific ideas about the identities their partners should not have than those they should have.

The only characteristics that are often considered a prerequisite for a relationship are meat consumption and orientation toward tradition. In contrast, characteristics such as refusal to fly, feminism or veganism are avoided by many.

The survey, Sotomo points out, was conducted between May 14 and 27 last year among a representative sample of 3,528 people in German- and French-speaking Switzerland.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/ts

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