Political Polarization, State Color, and Your Health

Political polarization in the United States is not a recent phenomenon. States are now often described as "red" or "blue" based on how voters predominately voted in the Presidential and other statewide elections. These differences now seem to have generated into values considerations oriented around social characteristics and beliefs about the size and role of government in society, with corresponding relationships to health behaviors. At no time perhaps was this more apparent than during the COVID-19 pandemic.