CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thanksgiving falls a little more than three weeks after the election, which means topics such as politics could come up at dinner tables. 

How do you handle conversations about politics with family or friends who have different opinions than you do?

What You Need To Know

  • Topics like politics could come up at Thanksgiving dinner tables

  • Handling conversations about politics with family or friends who have different opinions may be difficult  

  • A political science and political psychology professor and expert gives tips to handle politics discussions

“Rather than just disagreeing with groups on the issues, and disagreeing with the party platforms, now Democrats and Republicans both have been increasingly likely to say that they dislike the people who hold different views than they do,” said Amy Sentementes, a political science and political psychology professor at Queens University.

Sound familiar?

Sentementes said there’s been a rise in what’s called affective polarization. That’s why navigating different political opinions at your own dinner table this Thanksgiving can be challenging.

“We can decide how much time we want to spend on this conversation, because to talk about politics involves a lot of caring and deliberation,” Sentementes said. “Maybe if we don’t want to go into a whole debate, we might change the subject to something more innocuous like food or what’s coming up at future functions.”  

Sentementes teaches and researches political science and political psychology at Queens University, so she knows a lot about people. She said she fell in love with the field almost immediately, while pursuing her Ph.D.  

As she shopped for her Thanksgiving dinner, she said if you want to talk politics this holiday, here’s what you can do. 

“Perhaps listening to someone before we start talking about our own views might help us humanize them and might help us understand where they’re coming from,” Sentementes said. 

She said it’s important to remember that there’s a way to refocus even when you disagree with people you love.

“Remembering that we are all a part of the same family, we all are friends, and even that we are all Americans, that can help people remember that they have more in common with each other,” Sentementes said. 

Sentementes said even if you disagree with friends or family members in your own party, her advice is the same. 

Whether you’re out shopping or sitting around the dinner table, she said there will be plenty of time to talk about politics over the next four years. This Thanksgiving doesn't have to be that time, if you’re not ready.  

“You have to be at a certain level of emotional stability, and if that’s not happening right now, that’s perfectly fine. Give yourself time and space to process the results,” Sentementes said.