AUSTIN, Texas — We've all seen the surveys on how polarized the country and Texas have increasingly become. But a new survey shows 81% of Texans don't think the political divisions in the state are as bad as they look. 

A project called Threads of Texas shows Texans common attitudes outnumber their differences. Four-thousand were surveyed in July and August of last year. Follow up polling was also done after the winter storm.  ​

"We approach our polling a little differently than most public opinion research organizations. We look at people's values and beliefs and the identities that they share with other Texans," said Dan Vallone, the Director of More in Common USA, which conducted the survey and bills itself as a nonpartisan counter to divisive politics. 

The organization created seven groups "defined by their orientation and emotion towards change and their understanding of what it means to be Texan." 

  • ​ Lone Star Progressives — liberal, highly engaged, alienated, critical, empathetic. 
  •  ​Civic Pragmatists — engaged, civic-minded, pragmatic, rational, measured.
  •  Rising Mavericks — younger, diverse, proud, critical, multifaceted, politically informed. 
  •  Apolitical Providers — lower income, equality-focused, detached, apprehensive, apolitical.
  •  Die-hard Texans — proud, Texan-centered, optimistic, traditional, culturally connected, politically disengaged.
  •  Texas Faithful — patriotic, traditional, faith-oriented, skeptical, conspiratorial.
  •  Heritage Defenders — white, conservative, partisan, libertarian, embattled.

​"We get beyond the Democratic, Republican dynamic and when we do that, we find that there's a lot more shared values across Texans than is commonly perceived when we just think we're so divided into a red camp and a blue camp," Vallone said. 

​On immigration, the survey found 55% of Texans say immigration is good for Texas. But breaking it down further, 7 in 10 say they're proud of the state's history and welcome immigration. 

Meanwhile, more than 8 in 10 Texans are exhausted by the division in politics and close to 90% are concerned the divisions they see in politics will lead to violence. 

"It's good politics to try and emphasize what we have in common and to build a bigger story of being Texan that unites groups that have felt left out of the conversation and who are anxious about their place in a rapidly changing state," Vallone said.