Values and religion in rural America: attitudes toward abortion and same-sex relations

Abstract

Th is issue brief uses cumulative data from the nationally representative, General Social Survey (1972-2004) (Davis & Smith 2004), to explore how rural Americans diff er from their urban and suburban peers on religious involvement and in their attitudes toward politically contested moral issues, namely, abortion and same-sex relations. Th e data indicate that rural Americans are slightly more religious than their metropolitan neighbors as indicated by weekly church attendance and having had a born-again experience. Rural Americans, however, do not comprise a homogeneous group. Th ere are signifi cant regional diff erences, with rural Southerners much more likely than their rural counterparts in Eastern, Midwestern, and Western parts of the country to be highly religious. And while rural Americans are more likely to oppose abortion and same-sex relations than their non-rural neighbors, there is also evidence of variation in their attitudes toward these issues. Like Americans as a whole, rural Americans vary their opinion on abortion depending on the specifi c circumstances. Generation also matters, and this is especially evident in the fact that younger individuals are more tolerant of same-sex relations than their parents and grandparents. It is also noteworthy that religiosity trumps rural/non-rural location when it comes to social conservatism. Highly religious rural and non-rural Americans alike are much more likely to oppose abortion and same-sex relations than their less religious counterparts. Acknowledging and responding to these important nuances in the cultural values of rural Americans may improve the ability of both Democrats and Republicans to develop connections throughout rural America. In sum, it would be a mistake to categorize rural Americans as a single voting bloc. Rural America is diverse, and behavior, attitudes and beliefs vary by region.

Tolerance Versus Support: Perceptions of Residential Community Climate Among LGB Parents

“…In addition to LGB‐specific resource involvement, we also examine religious participation. Religious congregations have heightened importance in nonmetropolitan communities because they are often a primary source of religious and social support (Dillon & Savage, ). Further, religious involvement is important to many LGB parents.…”

Traditional rural values and posttraumatic stress among rural and urban undergraduates

“…The undergraduate status of the participants may also have affected the results. In general, rural Southerners in the United States, who made up the primary location demographic in our study, tend to display more religiosity and conservatism in comparison to rural communities in other areas of the United States [62]. Furthermore, approximately 85% of participants permanently resided in one of the top three states that the Pew Research Center [63] has characterized as the mostly highly religious states in the United States.…”

Policy Process Theory for Rural Studies: Navigating Context and Generalization in Rural Policy

“…In keeping with the idea of a continuum instead of a dichotomy, rural areas in different contexts are sometimes dissimilar and vary from urban areas in unexpected ways. For example, views concerning same‐sex marriage and abortion vary in rural areas (e.g., Dillon and Savage 2006). Similarly, studies find rural communities are both less supportive of environmental concerns (e.g., Brunson and Steel 1996; Dunlap and Van Liere 1978) and have similar environmental concerns as some urban areas (e.g., Wolters and Hubbard 2014).…”