(One goal for A New America was to identify a model illustrating societal factors that relate to recent voting habits. As it turned out, this second scale (SMS) had an added benefit of maximizing the statistical differentiation between those who were likely to vote, from those who were not.)

Conceptually, as well as statistically, it makes sense that "social material stress" would have a strong relationship with voting habits.

Since much attention is given to conservative values and traditionalism, a supplementary index was developed from the IOOW-2000 data called the Social Traditional - Religious Conservative (STRC) index to examine the broader implications of social, traditional, religious, and conservative beliefs and values.

In general, the STRC index measures people's identification with old values and habits with which they are comfortable, conservative and Republican political inclinations, low tolerance for diversity, support for the death penalty, and high attendance of religious meetings.

When combined with the PFCI scale, this index provides useful insight into ways people's traditional and conservative outlooks interact with an outlook more associated with a connection to society, life in general, and a broader spiritual worldview.