So, whose bright idea was it to hold national elections mere weeks before everyone has to meet up and make nice with their entire families? Yes, the election may be over – but according to a new survey from the American Psychological Association, hardly any Americans are looking forward to the holiday fallout.
“More than 7 in 10 adults […] said they hope to avoid discussing politics with family over the holidays,” notes a statement on the survey, released this week by the APA. “And while 65 [percent] of adults said they were not worried that political discussions would hurt their relationships with their family members during the holidays, nearly 2 in 5 adults […] said they were stressed by the thought of politics coming up at holiday gatherings.”
It is, arguably, not a surprising discovery. For many reasons, this most recent election was an extremely stressful one for Americans: back in October, the APA’s Stress in America survey reported that nearly seven in ten US adults rated the then-upcoming presidential election as a “significant source of stress”. Ranking even higher than that were the equally political “the economy” – a source of significant stress for nearly three in every four of those surveyed – and the nebulous “future of our nation”, which was stressing out close to four in every five Americans.
But the votes are now cast and counted, so you’ve got to figure that at least half that number are now feeling even worse about things. Indeed, that’s what the more recent poll found: around 35 percent of the more than 2,000 US adults surveyed reported feeling more stressed about the future now than they did before the election, versus 32 percent who said the opposite.
Nevertheless, it seems there is one thing Americans are in almost complete agreement about: they really, really don’t want to talk about it over the holidays. Around five in six adults agreed that “the holidays are a time to forget political differences, regardless of whether their preferred candidate won or lost the election […] or if they felt more or less stressed about the future of our nation now than they did leading up to the election,” the statement reports.
“Leading up to the 2024 presidential election, many Americans faced prolonged worry and uncertainty, which can significantly impact our well-being and relationships,” said APA CEO Arthur C Evans Jr.
But “despite the tensions leading up to the election, people have consistently shown that they value meaningful relationships with friends and family over political disagreements,” he added.
Still, a sizable minority of those surveyed – nearly two in five – said they had no intention of seeing family from the opposing political team this year. For adults aged between 18 and 34, that figure shot up to 45 percent.
To avoid missing out on seeing family this year, therefore, the APA does offer a few pieces of advice: be “open and kind,” it advises, listen to people to understand them rather than argue with them; try to find areas where you agree – maybe not on specific policies, but perhaps at least the underlying morals; accept that you may not be able to change their mind, and know when to quit – “If you find yourself getting worked up, try taking deep breaths, changing the topic of conversation or suggesting another activity,” they suggest, “but reinforce that you value the relationship you share with the other person.”
The final piece of advice? Well, essentially, it’s what we’re apparently already doing: avoid politics altogether. “Remember that the holidays are about bringing people together, not driving them apart,” the APA advises, “and focus on good memories that you and your family members have in common.”
Hey, if all else fails – you can always cause a distraction by blowing up a turkey and burning the house down. Just saying: it would probably stop people talking about the economy for a bit.
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