Headline is extremely misleading.<p>From the study: ( <a href="http://people.hbs.edu/bedelman/papers/redlightstates.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://people.hbs.edu/bedelman/papers/redlightstates.pdf</a> )<p>"Furthermore, I found no significant relationship between subscriptions to this adult entertainment service and presidential voting in 2004, based on poll data by congressional district."<p>If porn-consumption co-varied with "Conservativeness," the correlation found at the state level would carry down to red/blue American Congressional districts.
Another alternative theory: they're less willing to violate copyright to get their porn.<p>Yet another alternative theory: they have more sex in general and porn buying is proportional. (Those communities have lots of sex, more than blue states.)<p>Variation: they have standards standards that aren't met by "free" porn.
"One natural hypothesis is something like repression: if you're told you can't have this, then you want it more," Edelman says.<p>--> Alternative theory: There's less adult bookstores, tougher licensing/zoning/legal codes, and less other real life outlets where people can come in a baseball hat, pay cash, and leave, so they choose online more.