Even though there’s talk about a possible civil war, a recent report from the Polarization Research Lab shows that most Americans don’t support violence between political parties.

The Polarization Research Lab focuses on using science to understand polarization and democracy. Their latest report, titled “Partisan Animosity and America,” kicks off a new series called “The Path to the 2024 Presidential Election.” This series will regularly dive into Americans’ opinions on important issues in the lead-up to and aftermath of the November election.

Fears for democracy

“While there is a common perception that partisan violence is something that is going to destroy the bedrock of U.S. democracy, our data show that this is, in fact, far from the truth. Americans have a fundamentally incorrect understanding of support for partisan violence,” the authors explain.

“Democrats think 45.5% of Republicans support partisan murder is 20.7 times larger than what our data show. Similarly, Republicans think 42% of Democrats support partisan murder, which is 25 times larger than reality.”

The way Americans see each other in politics doesn’t match the reality, says a report from the Polarization Research Lab, which surveyed 73,300 people on the YouGov platform over 15 months, including 3,500 in January. The study focused on Americans’ views on partisan violence and found that both Democrats and Republicans are against it.

Some key findings include:

• Fewer than 4% of Americans support violent acts like assault or arson against political opponents.
• About 2% of Americans don’t support politically-motivated murder, with slightly higher levels among Democrats (2.1%) compared to Republicans (1.8%).
• The report notes that support for partisan violence is more common among young, male, wealthy, non-white, and more educated Americans. Those under 30 support it at almost three times the rate of those over 30. MAGA Republicans, among Republicans, show 1.2 times more support for partisan violence than others in their party.

“Just because you say that you support partisan violence doesn’t mean that you, yourself, are going to commit an act of violence,” the authors conclude.

“Any support for partisan violence in the public is troublesome and we should take note, but small levels of support doesn’t mean that we are headed towards a civil war. We must remain attentive to the problem. As partisan animosity continues to create divisions in our society things could very well get worse.”