Southern Intolerance: A Fundamentalist Effect?

Abstract

For many years, social scientists have reported that southerners express lower levels of tolerance vis-ai-vis unpopular groups than nonsoutherners. Some researchers have suggested that these widely observed regional variations are due to the prominence of fundamentalist Protestantism in the South. In analyses of data from the 1988 General Social Survey, however, this hypothesis receives only partial support. Substantial regional differences in tolerance of left-wing groups, including communists, atheists, and homosexuals, persist despite controls for a range of religious variables. We suggest that future research on regional differences in public attitudes should consider contextual as well as individual religiousfactors. The willingness of American citizens to extend civil liberties to various unpopular groups has long been a topic of interest to social scientists. The recent resurgence of social science research on tolerance (Bollinger 1986; Corbett 1982; McClosky & Zaller 1984) dovetails with the sharpening cultural polarization of U.S. society after the mid-1970s (Hunter 1991). For roughly four decades, studies have consistently shown that southemers are more reluctant to extend civil liberties to unpopular groups than are residents of other regions (Abrahamson & Carter 1986; Middleton 1976; Nunn, Crockett & Williams 1978; Stouffer 1955; Tuch 1987; Wilson 1986). While this low level of tolerance partly reflects regional variations in rurality, education, and other factors, strong evidence of regional differences in tolerance persists even with statistical adjustments for these covariates. Further, despite earlier predictions that migration and economic development would gradually attenuate southern attitudinal distinctiveness (e.g., Key 1949), trend analyses indicate that regional variations in tolerance have remained relatively constant over time (Abrahamson & Carter 1986). * The authors thank Norval Glenn and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts and Sharon Sandomirsky for assistance with data management. Data for this study were made available via the Intertniversity ConsortiumforPolitical and Social Research (ICPSR), Ann Arbor. However, the authors are solely responsible for the analyses and interpretations presented here. Direct correspondence to Christopher G. Ellison, Dept. of Sociology, 336 Burdine Hall, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 i) The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces, December 1993, 72(2):379-398 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.35 on Wed, 31 Aug 2016 05:05:56 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 380 / Social Forces 72:2, December 1993 These findings have invited a number of unflattering characterizations of a regional subculture, such as the following: Localism, defined as a marked preference for and identity with the locale of one's birth, is joined in the South with an insularity of mind that is slow to change, actively belligerent toward the new, and openly intolerant toward a diversity of viewpoints. (Nunn, Crockett & Williams 1978:105) To date, however, few researchers have attempted to explain the phenomenon of southern intolerance.' One promising exception to this general pattern of neglect is a brief analysis by Jelen (1982), who attributes the low levels of tolerance among southerners to the prevalence of fundamentalist Protestantism in the South. Though his analyses of data from the General Social Surveys offer tentative support for that hypothesis, Jelen emphasizes that his findings are extremely tentative and speculative (81). His study is characterized by several limitations, including (1) reliance on a single religious indicator, namely fundamentalist denominational preference; (2) failure to measure tolerance toward a range of ideologically diverse target groups; and (3) inadequate statistical controls for the potentially confounding effects of a number of background factors that are associated with region, tolerance, and/or religion. After briefly summarizing the social science literature on the southern religious environment and the prominence of fundamentalist Protestantism,2 we discuss the implications of conservative theological beliefs, religious practices, and fundamentalist organizational cultures for (in)tolerance. Using data from the 1988 General Social Survey, we then test the hypothesis that low levels of southern tolerance reflect the influence of fundamentalism. In contrast to Jelen (1982), we find only very mixed support for this hypothesis. We conclude by suggesting several directions for further research on southern attitudinal distinctiveness. Theoretical and Empirical Background