Are there differences in fatalism between rural Southerners and Midwesterners?

We conducted a phone survey of the rural South and Midwest examining fatali sm and riskiness of health practices. Contrary to the contentions of some h istorians, ethnographers, writers, and social scientists, we found no evide nce that Southerners were more fatalistic than Midwesterners. Southerners w ere not more likely to express the view that God or fate controlled their l ives, and they were not more likely to take chances with their health and s afety. The present findings contradict a commonly held view of the South, a s well as a famous report in Science (Sims & Baumann, 1972) maintaining tha t higher death rates for tornadoes in this region might be due to Southern fatalism.