Rural Identity as a Contributing Factor to Anti-Intellectualism in the U.S.

ABSTRACT: Anti-intellectualism-a distrust of intellectuals and experts-has had a significant political presence in the U.S. and globally, especially in recent years. Anti-intellectualism drives support for phenomena such as populism, a rejection of scientific consensus, and health and science misinformation endorsement. Therefore, discovering what drives someone to be more anti-intellectual is highly important in understanding contemporary public opinion and political behavior. Here, I argue that a significant and overlooked factor contributing to anti-intellectualism is rural social identification-a psychological attachment to being from a rural area or small town-because rural identity in particular views experts and intellectuals as an out-group. Using 2019 ANES pilot data (N = 3000), original su

SUBMITTER: Lunz Trujillo K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8807672 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature