Despite the 2020 presidential election having officially come to a close months ago, many Americans still feel wary around loved ones when it comes to engaging in political conversations. In turn, Christians might also feel the strain of political polarization in the nation at large, in their homes and also within their congregations.

Though differing political ideology and party affiliation are common denominators in relationships wounded in last year’s election, a recent Barna survey allows us to explore how other demographics and factors—including church engagement—correlate with relational impact.

Church Engagement, Age, Race, Factor into Whose Relationships Are Negatively Affected As of February 2021, 22 percent of all U.S. adults say, yes, they have a close relationship that has been negatively impacted by the 2020 presidential election. While the relational experiences of the political climate aren’t drastically different across demographics, including among faith groups and levels of faith practice, researchers do observe some significant fluctuations in the data.

Churched U.S. adults—that is, those who have attended a church service either online or in-person within the past six months—are more likely than all other Americans to say they have a close relationship that was affected by the election.

When it comes to age, the most significant gap occurs between Gen Z and Gen X, with the former being more likely to say they have a relationship that soured due to the election (28% vs. 20% Gen X).