ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses mainly on demographic characteristics and social beliefs. Various traditional lifestyle indicators and social beliefs are important factors in understanding which people are likely to identify as conservatives. Divorced people are closer to the unmarried than the married, with 37 percent identifying as conservative, while widowed individuals look more like those who are married, with 49 percent identifying as conservative. Whites may be the most conservative group, but Native American respondents actually have a higher conservative score in several years. People who attend religious services regularly, say religion is important in their lives, and take the Bible literally are particularly likely to call themselves conservatives. Notions about conservatism and liberalism are strong enough that they drive vote choice in a quite meaningful way, even showing a definite impact when there is a conflict between the normal choices of those who are religious and a respondent's position on the ideology scale.
