Most Americans believe in love at first sight and soulmates
Even though the divorce rate has dropped from its high in the 1980s, the fact that now less than a third of marriages ends in divorce still means that each and every year a significant number of Americans' romantic lives are thrown into chaos. Despite this, however, America is still a remarkably romantic country. This year spending on Valentine's Day was expected to hit $18.9 billion, as couples across the country showered their new crushes and old loves with gifts and tokens of affection.
YouGov's latest research shows that most Americans (51%) believe that there is such a thing as love at first sight, while 35% do not. There is little difference between demographic groups on this question, though people whose households earn under $40,000 a year (58%) followed by Democrats (57%) are the most likely to believe in it, while under-30s (44%) and independents (46%) are the least likely. When it comes to believing in soulmates over two-thirds of Americans (69%) believe that there is such a thing as a soulmate, while only 18% don't believe that there is.
The largest differences between demographic groups when it comes to whether or not there is or is not such a thing as soulmates is regional. While 75% of people in the Midwest believe that soulmates exist only 58% of people in the Northeast agree. 26% of people in the Northeast say outright that there is not such thing as a soulmate, a percentage which does not exceed 18% in any other region.
Asked how many soulmates each person has, Americans who believe in them tend to say that we have more than one. 25% of the country believes that their is only one soulmate for each person, while 33% believe that there are more than one. Republicans (34%) are the most likely to say there is only one, while people in the west (20%) and independents (22%) are the least likely. 31% of Americans don't believe in soulmates, while 10% believe in them but aren't sure whether we only have one or not.
Full poll results can be found here and topline results and margin of error here.
