New study that has been conducted by University of Cambridge (UK) reveals how the personalities of people in the USA often differ according to the state in which they live. According to a press release issued by the university, “New Jersey is one of the highest-scoring states for “neuroticism”; a personality trait normally associated with anxiety, stress and impulsive behavior.
Researchers used the results from more than half a million online surveys to create a “personality map” of the United States, showing that different types of people are more likely to live and flourish in different parts of the country.
For example, according to the findings, North Dakotans are often more sociable and affable than most Americans, while people living in New York State tend to be more highly-strung and creative. People from West Virginia tend to be more anxious and people live in New Mexico were more religious.
The authors of the new study argue that the strongest personality traits within a given population become self-reinforcing by influencing the region’s life and culture.
For example, the place where the population were creative, imaginative and intellectual (such as New York and California), one might expect to find people who are interested in art, literature and science. This may in turn lead to the establishment of institutions such as universities and museums. These institutions then influence the views and values of the local populace, encourage more creative and imaginative people to move to the region, and give people who do not fit that profile less reason to live there.
To test this theory, the research team set out to identify whether prevalent personality types were indeed reflected in the social and cultural life of each US state.
Using an established framework called the “Five Factor Model” they divided personality types into five broad categories: “Extraversion” (sociable, energetic, enthusiastic people); “Agreeableness” (warm, friendly, compassionate); “Conscientiousness” (dutiful, responsible, self-disciplined); “Neuroticism” (anxious, stressful, impulsive); and “Openness” (curious, intellectual, creative).
The results of the survey allowed researchers to compute estimates of each of the personality dimensions for every state and identify which personality traits were strongest in which states.
Arizona, for example, ranked high on conscientiousness but low on neuroticism, suggesting that people there like order and discipline, but are fairly relaxed. Wisconsin had high readings for extroversion and agreeableness, but low for openness, suggesting that people there are sociable and friendly and traditional.
The study also revealed clear patterns which showed that personalities are not randomly distributed, but geographically clustered. “Neuroticism” was, for instance, highest in the east along a line stretching from Maine to Louisiana, and lowest in the west, suggesting that the country has an identifiable “stress belt”.
To determine whether the personality differences between states were meaningful, the researchers then tested the impact of the personality traits on national indicators of crime, social involvement, religiosity, employment, health, values, disease and mortality.
Based on that study, 75% of the predicted correlations turned out to be right. For example, in states with a high level of extroversion, large proportions of the population were found to be employed in industries where social interaction is important, such as sales. States with a high level of agreeableness had lower crime rates. This seems to confirm the theory that regional personality is “self-reinforcing”.
