With the annual barrage of media coverage about the “stress” of the holidays, and the accompanying listicles about how to navigate our fraught family relationships, you might think we were a nation of Scrooges. But new data reveals a surprising and wholesome truth: most of us love being with our family and friends.

Spending time with family far outweighs other priorities, according to a recent study from the Pew Research Center, with about nine in ten Americans calling it either “very important” or “one of the most important things.” No other response came close. Religion and exercise were neck and neck for second place but far behind. Career success trailed those two.

And although the political right has made much of “family values,” this deep desire for family time is uncorrelated with party affiliation — it’s equally true of Democrats and Republicans.