Survey: Women are paying more attention to politics with Trump in charge

A new survey released on Thursday showed that the public, especially college educated women, are paying more attention to politics since President Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, according to Pew Research Center.

A national survey, conducted June 27 to July 9 among 2,505 adults, found that the American public has increased its focus on politics by a total of 52 percent. Thirty-three percent said they have continued to pay attention since before the elections, with only 13 percent having said they lost interest in politics.

Women were the largest group to increase their political attentiveness. According to Pew, 58 percent of women said they monitored political news more closely, compared with 46 percent of men.

Democratic women lead Republican women in the increase in monitoring political news, with 63 percent and 54 percent, respectively.

Democratic men increased their attentiveness by 51 percent, versus Republican men who saw a 43 percent increase.

Of the general public, only 15 percent said they attended a political rally. Of that group, 67 percent said they did so to oppose Trump, or one of his policies. Women attendees to these rallies were typically college graduates, and far outpaced women with little to no college education. Pew reported that 43 percent of women with postgraduate degrees attended rallies, versus 20 percent of non-college educated women.

Democrats at 22 percent said they were three times as likely to have attended a rally as Republicans, who clocked in at 7 percent.

The increased political awareness seems to have a low effect on personal relationships. According to Pew, 19 percent said that knowing a friend had backed Trump during the election strained their relationship. On the flip side, 7 percent said that backing Hillary affected friendships negatively.

Additionally, 56 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of Republicans said that though there is intense political division, both parties share “many of my other values and goals.”

However, 68 percent of Democrats, versus just over half of Republicans said that talking about those with different views about Trump is "stressful and frustrating." Breaking it down by sex, 64 percent of women, compared to 54 percent of men said they found differing views on Trump frustrating.