| In 1987, Steven A. Tuch tested Wirth and Stouffer's classical theories dealing with the effects of urbanism and region on racial tolerance. The purpose of this investigation is to: (1) extend Tuch's research by re-examining the propositions of Wirth and Stouffer over time, 1972 to 1996; (2) test whether the effects of urbanism as well as region, generalize to both racial and gender tolerance; and (3) employ two ways to measure tolerance. American history chronicles that attitudes have moved strikingly over the past two hundred years from lesser to greater tolerance. However, others debate the extent that this positive shift has permeated all segments of society. Jackman maintains that this seeming increase in tolerance may simply be an artifact of poor measurement. With this said, this research moves the debate of the effects of urban and region forward by including more comprehensive measures to assess tolerance by urbanism and region. The National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey (GSS) is employed to assess attitudes toward African Americans and women. The GSS is given to a randomly drawn sample of the non-institutionalized U.S. population of 18 years of age and older. Results reveal a general shift toward greater tolerance. Patterns vary not only by residence but also by whether the measure of tolerance taps general principles or implementation of government policy. For race, the most striking patterns are the persistence of regional residence on racial tolerance, regardless of question type, and the lack of urbanism effect. For women, the effects of urbanism and region on tolerance were also surprisingly negligible across question types. |
