SOUTHERN INTOLERANCE - A FUNDAMENTALIST EFFECT

For many years, social scientists have reported that southerners expre ss lower levels of tolerance vis-a-vis unpopular groups than nonsouthe rners. Some researchers have suggested that these widely observed regi onal variations are due to the prominence of fundamentalist Protestant ism in the South. In analyses of data from the 1988 General Social Sur vey, however, this hypothesis receives only partial support. Substanti al regional differences in tolerance of left-wing groups, including co mmunists, atheists, and homosexuals, persist despite controls for a ra nge of religious variables. We suggest that future research on regiona l differences in public attitudes should consider contextual as well a s individual religious factors.