Dying of Whiteness? How Racial Attitudes Kill Rural Americans

• In Event: Political Determinants of Health

Abstract

Qualitative evidence suggests that health insecure rural Americans "vote against their interest" by supporting policies and politicians that make their health and economic wellness worse. I expand this important work utilizing experimental methods. Using two vignette survey experiments with large rural samples, I show that information cues about race and immigration drastically reduce rural support for a variety of health policies--even among those with chronic health conditions, more medical debt, and worse health overall. These findings have important implications for multiple literatures in political science.

Author

• Michael E. Shepherd, University of Michigan