The results of a collaboration between Nationhood Lab director Colin Woodard and anthropologists at the University of Toronto Mississauga was published last week in the journal PLOS One.
September 15, 2025
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario and NEWPORT, R.I. — In the United States, Northeastern and Midwestern residents tend to have higher physical, social, mental and financial—i.e., “traditional”—wellness, while Southern residents have report higher “existential” wellness, involving a sense of purpose, fulfillment and community identity, according to a new analysis of survey data from more than 325,000 Americans.
The study, published in the journal PLOS One on September 10, 2025, was lead by anthropologist David Samson of the University of Toronto Mississauga, an expert on human’s tribal identities, and co-authored by his UT colleague, evolutionary psychologist Nathan Oesch, and Nationhood Lab director Colin Woodard.
It adds to a growing body of research exploring factors that drive both traditional and existential wellness, many of which — like healthcare access and economic opportunity — , vary according to where one lives. Woodard’s American Nations model of the dominant regional cultures of North America, based on cultural geographer’s recognition of lasting first effective settler-colonizer effects, provided an avenue to probe the relationship to underlying cultural values, ideals, and policy priorities.
Samson and colleagues hypothesized that wellness may vary between U.S. regions that have distinct cultural norms and ideologies resulting from the distinct colonization settlement patterns traced in American Nations —an idea they’ve called the “First Settler Wellness Effect.” To explore this possibility, they analyzed data on the wellness of 325,777 U.S. residents who participated in surveys as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index between 2009 and 2016. The researchers coded the data — which is available at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level — to the cultures outlined in the American Nations Model, which has been described for an academic audience.
The researchers found that wellness levels varied between different American Natins regions. For instance, the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of Yankeedom, the Midlands, and New Netherland had higher traditional wellness, while Southern regions like Deep South and Greater Appalachia had higher existential wellness. The researchers propose that these differences may stem from stable health infrastructure and economic security in the Northeast and Midwest, and an honor-based emphasis on personal autonomy, loyalty, and social reputation in the South.
Taking a closer look at minority racial populations, Black and Hispanic residents also had relatively higher traditional wellness in the Northeast and Midwest and had higher existential wellness in Southern regions. Compared to White residents, Black residents consistently exhibited lower traditional wellness across regions, and in the Northeastern and Midwestern regions, they also fared particularly poorly in existential wellness. The researchers say these findings may reflect limitations of material wealth, and suggest that systemic disparities may be offset in Southern regions by robust cultural or community support.
This work could help inform public health efforts and policies to boost wellbeing. Future research could examine what mechanisms may underlie the observations.
The authors add: “Our analysis shows that first-settler cultural legacies still shape how Americans feel and function today. These regional ‘folkways’ predict both traditional wellbeing (social support, community trust) and existential wellness (purpose and meaning) even after accounting for socioeconomic factors.”
“What struck us most was the durability of culture—centuries-old settlement patterns continue to forecast modern lived experience. This doesn’t imply destiny; it suggests policy works best when it aligns with local cultural ecologies.”
The study received early attention from online publications Science Magazine and Earth.com. It is the 27th peer-reviewed paper published in as many months involving Nationhood Lab, which has also engaged in extensive collaborations with public health and medical researchers from the University of Illinois-Chicago, the Minneapolis-based HealthPartners Institute, the University of California Los Angeles and other institutions.
Nationhood Lab, based at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University, is an interdisciplinary research, writing, testing and dissemination project focused on counteracting the authoritarian threat to American democracy and the centrifugal forces threatening the federation’s stability. The project delivers more effective tools with which to describe and defend the American liberal democratic tradition and better understand the forces undermining it.