The 2016 presidential election was as divisive for families as it was political adversaries, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Sixteen percent of people queried in their poll said they had stopped talking to a family member or friend because of the election, while 39 percent of people said they argued with family and friends over politics.
Also, 13 percent polled said they had ended a relationship with a close friend or family member, and 21 percent said they had become friends with someone they did not know before the election.
On social media, where tensions are sharp over political posts, 53 percent said they had yet to block a family member or close friend over politics, but 17.4 percent said they did.
The campaign between now-President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was bitter and rough, and it made people anxious. In October, the American Psychological Association said it found more than half of adults in the U.S. felt very or somewhat stressed by the election, according to The Washington Post.
Adults who used social media said the election was bumming them out, according to the APA poll.
"One of the challenges of being active in social media is that it's always there," Lynn Bufka, the APA's associate executive director for policy, told the Post in October. "The social niceties seem to slip away when we're online, we might be bolder or blunter, or it's more readily misinterpreted. I urge people, walk away from it, it's okay to not be plugged in all the time."
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online from Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 with 6,426 adults interviewed, and a credibility interval of +/- 1.4 points.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.