While over half of the 1,021 adult Americans polled by the Barna Group said they never get involved in social media arguments, nearly a quarter called it a rare occurrence.
Practicing Catholics were the faith group most likely to argue on social media with 16 per cent saying they frequently do so. In comparison, six in ten Protestants say they never experience conflict online and seven in ten Evangelicals claimed they never argue on the web at all despite recent evangelical debates.
Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group said in the research paper: "Where once family members could put a stop to an argument with a cry of 'no religion or politics at the table!' the digital world does everything to encourage such debates.
"Yet, there is a real person on the other end of that comment and online bullying has proven to be a truly destructive force.
"It seems important today that we expand our idea of 'neighbour' to the digital space as well."
Among those who argue at least rarely, more than one-quarter credit a spat to a stranger who didn't like what they posted, while one in five say someone they know challenged them.
