"Our findings show that the Tea Party movement can best be understood as a new cultural expression of late 20th century conservatism," said Andrew J. Perrin, an associate professor of sociology in the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's College of Arts and Sciences, and lead author of the study, "Cultures of the Tea Party."
Findings are based on two telephone polls of registered voters in North Carolina and Tennessee (conducted May 30-June 3, 2010 and Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2010), and a set of interviews and observations at a Tea Party movement rally in Washington, N.C. Nearly half of poll respondents (46 percent) felt favorably toward the Tea Party movement.
Researchers found that respondents who felt positively toward the Tea Party movement held the following primary cultural and political dispositions more often than other voters did:
- Authoritarianism: respondents believe that obedience by children is more important than creativity, and that deference to authority is an important value.
- Libertarianism: respondents believe there should not be regulations or limitations on expressions such as clothing, television shows, and musical lyrics.
- Fear of change/ontological insecurity: respondents sense that things are changing too fast or too much.
- Nativism: respondents hold negative attitudes toward immigrants and immigration.
About the American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society.
The paper, "Cultures of the Tea Party," will be presented on Monday, Aug. 22, at 2:30 p.m. PDT in Caesars Palace Las Vegas, at the American Sociological Association's 106th Annual Meeting.
To obtain a copy of the paper; for more information on other ASA presentations; or for assistance reaching the study's authors, members of the media can contact Daniel Fowler at pubinfo@asanet.org or (202) 527-7885. During the Annual Meeting (Aug. 20-23), ASA's Public Information Office staff can be reached in the press room, located in the Sorrento Room of Caesars Palace, at (702) 866-1916 or (914) 450-4557 (cell).
For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Dee Reid, Director of Communications, UNC College of Arts and Sciences, at deereid@unc.edu or (919) 843-6339.
these folks can be for:
"obedience by children is more important than creativity, and that deference to authority is an important value."
AND
"there should not be regulations or limitations on expressions such as clothing, television shows, and musical lyrics.:
It just doesn't compute. "Free speech" for us, but not for the next generation. These folks have some serious brain short-circuits.