This is very interesting, thanks for all your work!
I have some thoughts about political polarization being a top issue. In the LDS culture, passive aggressive or just plain passiveness is the preferred communication style. In my opinion and based on data surrounding high control religions such as Mormonism, one area heavily policed in Mormonism is appearance and the need to appear devoid of conflict. Conflict is to be avoided, first and foremost. “Contention is of the devil” was a common refrain in my LDS upbringing. Which is basically the same for conflict. So seeing such open conflict play out in every sphere is probably disconcerting for LDS folks. The irony, imo, is that the root of such polarization is often black and white thinking and strong in-group versus out-group ideology—which the LDS church uses consistently and thoroughly. Members are trained to smile and play nice, so they appear kind and friendly, despite this.
It’s as if the overt display of political polarization highlights the internal division of ‘Mormon vs non-Mormon’—held by LDS folks—and to see it outright makes them very uncomfortable.
Do you have some additional detail for the map. I can see what I presume are Mormon Enclaves in Utah and southern Idaho. But are there others? Is there a color legend anywhere?
Yes I believe those are the only ones (most of Utah and the southeastern part of Idaho). If you go to their website the same map and color legend are on the front page and you can read more about their methodology/polls/etc.
This is very interesting, thanks for all your work!
I have some thoughts about political polarization being a top issue. In the LDS culture, passive aggressive or just plain passiveness is the preferred communication style. In my opinion and based on data surrounding high control religions such as Mormonism, one area heavily policed in Mormonism is appearance and the need to appear devoid of conflict. Conflict is to be avoided, first and foremost. “Contention is of the devil” was a common refrain in my LDS upbringing. Which is basically the same for conflict. So seeing such open conflict play out in every sphere is probably disconcerting for LDS folks. The irony, imo, is that the root of such polarization is often black and white thinking and strong in-group versus out-group ideology—which the LDS church uses consistently and thoroughly. Members are trained to smile and play nice, so they appear kind and friendly, despite this.
It’s as if the overt display of political polarization highlights the internal division of ‘Mormon vs non-Mormon’—held by LDS folks—and to see it outright makes them very uncomfortable.
Do you have some additional detail for the map. I can see what I presume are Mormon Enclaves in Utah and southern Idaho. But are there others? Is there a color legend anywhere?
Yes I believe those are the only ones (most of Utah and the southeastern part of Idaho). If you go to their website the same map and color legend are on the front page and you can read more about their methodology/polls/etc.
https://www.americancommunities.org/
Thanks so much for covering our survey with your insights, Alex! Here is our interactive map: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8umPW/11/