I’ve been wading through recently a whole set of articles that explain difference of culture not purely regional or racial. I highly recommend wading through this - if one wishes to understand the role of cultural identity better. It has done more than anything else I’ve read recently to help me understand the rural, isolated and low population (ie “red”) region I live in.
Surprisingly, I have also discovered that my husband and I, raised in “blue” families in urban areas and therefore more “progressive” than our neighbors, have yet developed a “purple” variety of our own blending (still progressive, especially as regards moral universals).
https://elenedom.wordpress.com/2017/07/22/the-authoritarian-personality-and-the-national-divide/