People Live States Tend Personality Test Part Neurotic

When most Americans think of a "Californian" (someone who lives in California), they think of someone who is very relaxed, someone who is "laid-back" (calm and relaxed). A "New Yorker" (someone from the state of New York) is often seen as having the opposite personality, someone who is "stressed out" (feeling very anxious; under a lot of stress). These are very popular images, but are they true?

Some psychologists have begun to test the "residents" (people who live in a certain place) of different states to see if they have certain personality traits. A "trait" is a characteristic, something that is "stable" (the same) over time. These psychologists gave a 44-question personality test that looked at five different personality traits: "extraversion" (how much you like to talk to other people), agreeableness, "conscientiousness" (how careful you are or how carefully you follow the rules), "openness" (whether you are open to new ideas and experiences), and "neuroticism" (having a mild mental disease usually related to stress and anxiety).

What did they find? The most open people tend to live on the West Coast and western U.S. states, including the states of California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. People who live in New York and Massachusetts were also very high in openness. The most extroverted people tend to live in the upper Midwest, which includes the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. These are states where people are more likely to talk to people they don't know and to interact with other people.

People in the upper Midwest also tend to be the most agreeable, meaning they tend to be perceived as being nice to other people. The state of New York is the opposite, with people who are considered very disagreeable in terms of their personality test results. People who live in the central part of the United States tend to be the most conscientious. This would include the states of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

What about neurotics? These people tend to live in the eastern part of the United States, including the states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio, although people who live in the south-central part of the U.S., in places such as Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, also score high on the neurotic test.