Does Being Surrounded by Oppposite-Partisans Boost Dislike?

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It's easy enough to dismiss or engage in debate at your leisure when you aren't surrounded by people of antagonistic points of view. That is, if you're an atheist, you probably won't be spending a whole lot of time at churches, and if you wish to engage theists in philosophical debate, you will do so as a hobby you seek out; you may keep religious friends where your viewpoints do not clash excessively. It is the same with political ideology. A liberal may have conservative family members, coworkers, and friends, and these are fine enough in small doses—it just adds to the intellectual diversity, after all. On the other hand, imagine being an atheist high-school student in a small Southern town where a major part of the social fabric is identification with one of the local evangelical Christian churches. The popular kids are football players and cheerleaders who lead prayer meets in front of the flagpole before school; if they're feeling particularly ecumenical, they may include a token Catholic, Mormon, or even a Jew; the idea that someone would willingly choose atheism is just too foreign to their worldview to even comprehend.

My experience is at work. It's a pretty conservative place (I'd venture 80-90%). When the culture is predominantly conservative, it leaves a stamp on everything about the workplace. Conservatism isn't just a tendency to vote for Republican candidates or go to church more than the average person. Conservatism is a loose set (a memeplex) of beliefs and attitudes and associated temperamental and personality differences. For example, the conservative often prefers a serious outlook on life with a focus on being industrious and thrifty; they don't much like deviation from routine or tradition. Their taste in art and culture tends towards the simple and unreflective (pop culture, comforting traditional fare). Chatting at lunch or "around the water cooler," you constantly see how vastly different the priorities/principles you use to weigh things are, the asssumptions made, and even basic taste. When even casual smalltalk amounts to a consensus among coworkers and the realization you disagree, it becomes obvious why the environment seems to be a poor fit, and it's ideology.

It depends, there are coworkers at my part time job that are on the other end of the spectrum from me politically in some aspects and we get along just fine, in fact we find debating each other to be fun.

I don't have to imagine that. You just described my life as a teen. Except I was (and am) agnostic rather than atheist. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to explain the difference to my peers-- they were absolutely clueless.

My perspective is, immersion in an entirely opposite-partisan atmosphere has both pros and cons. I truly think there's a lot to be learned from others with different dogmas, different priorities, different values-- so long as they aren't hostile to your right to exist and be true to yourself, rather than trying to force you into their molds. The downside is, it can also be terribly discouraging, to never see firsthand any evidence of the existence of like minds, and to be denied outlets with more similar perspectives.

There are those with whom I can and will discuss. Just about anything.

There are those with whom I cannot and will not discuss. Anything.

It has nothing to do with how close our views are. I have had great talks with people who disagree with me, horrible experiences with people who mostly agree.

In my time in academia I met MIGHTY few people - mostly students - around whom I could feel at ease opening my mouth and mind.

Give me a contrarian who will talk respectfully.