Cambridge researcher and MPI affiliate and collaborator, Jason Rentfrow, in today’s Financial Times:
Many of the cultural stereotypes of Americans – such as the neurotic New Yorker, the friendly Midwesterner and the chilled-out California dude – may have some basis in fact. A study by researchers at Cambridge University in the UK found that the personalities of people in the US often differ according to the state in which they live.
The research team also found that personalities are geographically clustered. For instance, “neuroticism” was highest in the east along a line stretching from Maine to Louisiana, and lowest in the west, suggesting the country has an identifiable “stress belt”.
Prof Rentfrow said that the strongest personality traits within a given population become self-reinforcing by influencing the area’s culture. Where the population was creative and intellectual – as was found to be the case in New York and California – one might expect to find people who were interested in art, literature and science, he said. This, in turn, leads to the creation of universities and museums, which then have an effect on the views and values of the local people and encourage more creative and imaginative people to move to the region.
Prof Rentfrow said his work had applications in business. Companies planning to relocate may consider the personalities of people in the region as they consider their potential pool of employees. And start-ups may want to go where “openness” is high and there are more patents produced.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
This seems like a study where it should be common sense that certain areas translate to certain personalities – but it’s interesting nevertheless.
I’ve always wondered if east coasters would be more laid back and less yuppie if we all didn’t live on top of one another and had more wide open spaces like the west coasters. I had a friend from Montana who moved to Fairfax but she didn’t last long and always felt completely displaced – you can move the girl from Montana but you can’t take the Montana out of the girl.
We all try on different ways of life but ultimately are drawn to what is most comfortable, whether that’s what we’ve always known or something new – guess that’s how people discover where they’re really meant to be… move around, see what fits.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Anyone have a link to the actual study/paper?
September 12th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Elizabeth,
I don’t know where the line of neuroticism runs, but neither Maine nor Louisiana live on top of each other. Mostly that’s the Bos-Wash corridor. Atlanta is no more crowded than LA and the Appalachians are pretty empty. I wonder if it has something to do with the Atlantic air? Positive ions?
But your Montana to Fairfax example parallels in reverse what I and others have noticed in Portland, OR. New Yorkers who move here either finally relax and stay, or go crazy and run back to the Big Apple. The ones who leave say things like “Nothing ever happens” or “People won’t tell you what they mean”.