Dating
February 9, 2024
Gen Z’s Romance Gap: Why Nearly Half of Young Men Aren’t Dating
Until very recently, American culture has operated on the flawed notion that teenage dating and sex required little encouragement. Teenage romance was once seen as a natural part of American adolescence. This, it turns out, is completely wrong. Continue Reading →
February 9, 2023
From Swiping to Sexting: The Enduring Gender Divide in American Dating and Relationships
Findings from the January 2023 American Perspectives Survey
The January 2023 American Perspectives Survey sheds some light on dating preferences, experiences, and perspectives. The national survey of more than 5,000 adults age 18 and older, including nearly 800 single adults, finds that Americans have strong dating preferences when it comes to living at home, being unemployed, and smoking. Continue Reading →
January 30, 2023
Deal-Breakers and Dating Apps: Trends Redefining Romance and Relationships in America
American social and dating life has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past few years. Join AEI’s Daniel Cox as he presents findings from a nationally representative survey and moderates a panel discussion that includes the Washington Post’s Christine Emba, Pew Research Center’s Juliana Horowitz, and Ipsos’s Mallory Newall. Continue Reading →
February 13, 2020
Younger Christians Care Less About Their Partner’s Religious Beliefs
Younger Christians are much more comfortable than older Christians with the idea of dating someone who does not share their views about God. Continue Reading →
February 6, 2020
Partisan Attachment: How Politics is Changing Dating and Relationships in the Trump Era
Findings from the January 2020 American Perspectives Survey
The January 2020 American Perspectives Survey explores dating and relationships. Abortion and Donald Trump are key dating dealbreakers for many Americans. Continue Reading →
Generation Uncoupled
Generation Uncoupled: America's New Gender Divide and the Crisis of Human Connection
Buy NowSurvey Reports
Daniel A. Cox
July 23, 2026
A Digital Divide in American Adolescence: Gender, Class, and the New Teenage Experience
If teenage years once represented a time of rebellion, teenagers’ lives today are marked less by pushing boundaries and more by building their own. Many teenage experiences are less common than they once were—dating, working a part-time job, and experimenting with drugs and alcohol are less common experiences. The 2026 American Teenagers Survey from the Continue Reading →
Daniel A. Cox, Jae Grace, Avery Shields
April 27, 2026
Strangers Next Door: The Decline of Neighborhood Socializing and the Class Divide in Belonging
Acknowledgment The American Enterprise Institute’s Survey Center on American Life is grateful to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for its generous support of this research. As Americans spend more of their time online, the neighborhood—once a primary physical location for real-world socialization—is playing less of a central role than ever before. Since Continue Reading →
In the News
September 11, 2026 Deseret News
Perspective: What ‘never forget’ means 25 years later
September 10, 2026 The Cut
My Boyfriend Is My Only Friend
September 9, 2026 The Hill
Elections won’t fix America’s political divisions
September 6, 2026 HuffPost




