The Ecology of Social Traditionalism in a Rural Hinterland.

The utility of metropolitan and urban dominance constructs for dealing with patterning of noneconomic and nondemographic factors in hinterland areas is explored by examining attitudes toward selected aspects of traditional morality within a large (N=11,465) sample of Pennsylvania adolescents living in farm, open country, and small town residence categories. In general, as miles from city centers increased, the degree of adherence to traditional attitudes also increased. The patterning in correlation terms was equal to that shown in others' research for economic and demographic variables. The dominance measures compared favorably to place or residence as explanatory factors. It is suggested that ecological dominance be explored more vigorously by rural sociologists interested in trying to understand rurality in America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]