Political animosity exceeds racial hostility, new Stanford research shows

New Stanford research shows that Democrats and Republicans are increasingly polar opposites - their political biases spill over into their social lives. Along party lines and ideology, more than even race or religion, Americans are distrustful of those who are not politically similar. New Stanford research has found that Americans are increasingly divided along political party lines - and those sentiments are stronger than racial biases. "We were particularly surprised at the extent to which party politics has become a litmus test for interpersonal relations. Marriage across party lines is extremely rare," said Shanto Iyengar, a Stanford political scientist and director of the Political Communication Laboratory. The evidence demonstrates that hostile feelings for the opposing political party are ingrained or automatic in voters' minds, he wrote in a new research paper. "The polarization of the American electorate has dramatically increased," said Iyengar, whose co-author was Sean Westwood, a post-doctoral researcher at Princeton University.