{"id":311889,"date":"2026-06-10T14:02:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=311889"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:24:25","slug":"tuned-out-middle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2026\/06\/10\/tuned-out-middle\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuned-Out Middle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Largely disconnected from politics, they tilt liberal on economic concerns but not on social issues<\/h2>\n\n\n
About this research<\/summary>\n

This Pew Research Center study goes beyond Americans\u2019 partisan attachments and vote choices to explore the values and attitudes that underlie the political landscape and the Republican and Democratic parties. We did this by creating a political typology, which classifies the public into nine groups based on their responses to 30 questions about government, economics, immigration, elected officials and other topics. To learn more about this project, jump to \u201cAbout the political typology<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans\u2019 political values and attitudes, and their views on politics more broadly, for decades. This is the ninth version of the political typology<\/a>; the first was conducted nearly 40 years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Pew Research Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We surveyed 10,357 U.S. adults from Nov. 17 to 30, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. We then used a statistical technique called cluster analysis to divide people into nine groups. (For more on the process of dividing people into groups and surveys used for analysis, jump to Appendix B<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the survey questions<\/a>\u00a0used for this analysis, the detailed responses<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Tuned-Out Middle are defined largely by their relatively low levels of interest in politics and participation in elections. While they are roughly equally likely to associate with the Republican and Democratic parties, most don\u2019t identify as partisans, and they tend not to hold strong positions on political issues. Just 32% voted in the 2024 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Allie Sullberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Still, <\/strong>on some issues they tilt in an ideological direction. For instance, majorities express a preference for larger government and support several social welfare policies. But they tend to be more moderate or conservative on issues related to gender identity and sexuality. They are generally moderate on immigration \u2013 supporting both border security and a pathway to legal status for those in the country illegally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuned-Out Middle are one of nine groups in Pew Research Center\u2019s 2026 Political Typology. To learn more about the typology, start with the overview<\/a><\/em>. To find which group is your best fit, take the quiz<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuned-Out Middle are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n