A third of Gen Z respondents avoid one-on-one listening with people who differ from them politically — directly actionable for designing generational outreach in dialogue programming.
About this research
This study from More in Common, developed in partnership with BBC journalist Emily Kasriel, combines a YouGov survey of 2,009 U.S. adults (conducted May-June 2024, weighted for demographic representativeness) with an earlier qualitative panel of 133 participants from More in Common’s “Americans in Conversation” project. It finds that although about 80% of Americans consider themselves good listeners, most believe listening across society has gotten worse, and that Gen Z stands out for being the generation most likely to avoid one-on-one conversations with people who hold different political views, often out of fear that listening will be read as agreement. The report notes a silver lining, however: Gen Z also shows the strongest appetite among generations for building better listening skills.
