Conservatives More Likely to Report Experiencing Discrimination

Conservatives are far more likely to report experiences of discrimination based on their political views, a new report from USA Today discovered.
And the discrimination they experience is pushing many to move from liberal-leaning areas to more conservative regions, according to the 2,000-person study.
While only 19 percent of liberal Americans reported experiencing bias or discrimination after moving to a more conservative community, 39 percent of conservative Americans shared that experience when moving to a liberal place.
And right-leaning Americans were 56 percent more likely to leave an area with opposing political views.
“In the past, communities did contain within them more ideological diversity,” Kent Bausman, a professor of sociology at Maryville University, told Newsweek.
“What these survey findings suggest is just how deeply divided we are becoming from each other across our ideological camps. We don’t simply disagree anymore. Instead, we are starting to see each other as somewhat foreign, in a manner that is to be feared or ignored.”
Generally, right-leaning Americans were more likely to prioritize the political views of a prospective community when deciding where to live. Among the conservative group, 25 percent of men prioritized it, while 14 percent of women said the same.
“White males, and especially conservatives, view themselves as the object of criticism from the left and in political and media discourse,” Keith Gaddie, a political science professor at Texas Christian University, told Newsweek. “It is not surprising that they respond by going someplace where they feel comfortable.”
Altogether, 62 percent of Americans who moved in the last year said they considered political issues when deciding where to make their new home.
Health care, crime gun violence, and taxes were the most likely policy issues to motivate movers at 28, 28, and 26 percent, respectively.
Of those Americans who moved to a place with different political values, 77 percent said they struggled to adjust, and 30 percent felt excluded from social experiences.
That was more concentrated among right-leaning Americans, who said they had trouble adapting 82 percent of the time compared to just 70 percent of left-leaning Americans.
“Conservatives are far more likely to be uncomfortable and to dislike living in and experiencing social environments where they believe their conservative views will be shunned,” William Hall, a professor of political science and business at Webster University, told Newsweek.
“On the other hand, historically, those who hold more liberal philosophical and ideological political views, more often favor and embrace change in both the formulation and implementation of public policy and the social order.”
Political beliefs have become increasingly important as a matter of identity for Americans, and they can shape what friends you make and how comfortable you feel in an area, experts say.
“It has gotten to the point where people’s political identity is akin to their religious beliefs,” Bausman said. “The result of this is a decline in what might be thought of as civic pluralism — that messy, uncomfortable practice of interacting with those to whom you disagree.”