Regional Cultures, Persistence and Change: A Case Study of the Mormon Culture Region

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title

The Social Science Journal

Publication Date

2003

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

40

Issue

3

First Page

431

Last Page

445

Abstract

There are at least two gaps in the literature on culture regions: (1) little research on regions other than the South, and (2) a lack of examination of regional distinctiveness across time. In addition, existing research provides contradictory conclusions regarding the perpetuation of culture regions; some results suggest modernization forces are obliterating regional distinctiveness, while other studies point to the endurance of differences. Making use of data reflecting 24 socioeconomic characteristics across the period 1950–1990, we find that the Mormon Culture Region (MCR) remained distinct from the United States as a whole, and was even more distinct in 1990 than in 1950. We believe our socioeconomic indicators represent important dimensions of regions, and are linked to the subjective identities that tend to be the focal point in analyses of culture regions. Additional research on other regions is needed to fully explain regional differences, as well as to adequately interpret results obtained when regional indicators are incorporated into empirical social research.

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Originally published by Elsevier. Publisher's PDF and HTML fulltext available through remote link.

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