The relationship between our personalities and our choice of locations is one of the hottest topics for understanding cities and urban areas. A new study in Psychological Science shows the connection between psychological “temperament” and migration. Not a psychology expert myself, I consulted with Cambridge University psychologist, Jason Rentfrow co-author of a path-breaking study of personality and place.
As Rentfrow explains, the concept of temperament comes from “developmental psychology and is generally regarded as the inherited.” They appear early in life and serve as the foundation for personality. In other words, they are the aspects of our personalities that are tied most closely to our genetics. There are three kinds of temperament - activity, sociability, and emotionality - and the study looked at the effects of these types on who was likely to migrate and where.
The study shows that temperament or personality influences whether someone moves, how frequently they move, and the kind of place they move to. Highly sociable people are the most likely to move, and they are more likely to move to urban areas than rural areas. The study suggests one explanation may be that urban areas have more people and therefore provide sociable types with more opportunities to meet and mingle with others. People with an active temperament were more likely to move, and to move more often.
I asked Rentfrow for his thoughts on the possible relationship between active temperament and open-to-experience people. My interviews with creative-class types reflected a preference for activity or “energy” often combining an intellectual energy with a need for outdoor activity as well as for street level cultural activity. He responded that “being open and curious involves having an active imagination. And physical activity is sometimes required to satisfy intellectual activity. ”
The study is here.
Tags: Cambridge University, Jason Rentfrow, Psychological Science
November 20th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
An interesting study, and one that I look forward to reading in depth.
However, a quick perusal finds that while they did consider the effect of employment (yes/no), they did not look at the relationship between income and migration. People with a well-paying job in a sought-after profession or field are much more likely to risk a move to a new space. Similarly, those with uncertain job prospects (and a family to support) are less likely to throw caution to the wind and leap into the unknown.
I could easily see that economic and family status has a greater impact on migration than psychological temperament. With that, we find ourselves now in a perfect storm against migration: frozen housing market, rising unemployment, declining wages, dwindling consumer confidence. It’s time to ‘hunker down’ until the storm passes.
Best, Bert