Social Honeycomb

Mapping the Traits of the States

Today I checked out a really cool WSJ article, “The United States of Mind” about differences in personalities by state and region across the country.

In my opinion, there were some really surprising findings about the various traits of people in the United States.

• As for high-anxiety states, that group includes not just Type A New York and New Jersey, but also states stressed by poverty, such as West Virginia and Mississippi. As a group, these neurotic states tend to have higher rates of heart disease and lower life expectancy.
• The flinty pragmatists of New England? They’re not as dutiful as they may seem, ranking at the bottom of the “conscientious” scale.
• High scores for openness to new ideas strongly correlates to liberal social values and Democratic voting habits. But three of the top ten “open” states — Nevada, Colorado and Virginia — traditionally vote Republican in presidential politics.

The article aptly mentions the “chicken-and-egg” idea here, too. Are these traits developing due to existing cultural and social factors, or are like-minded people drawn to each other and create culture based on the traits they already share?

Fascinating stuff.

The article also features an interactive map that ranks each state based on Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness.

If we look at Neuroticism, it’s almost shocking to see that West Virginia beats out all the other states, including New York, which comes in at No. 3, just after Rhode Island. However, when it comes to Agreeableness, I’m not surprised that almost all the New England states are pretty far down the list.

What do you think? Does your state’s personality surprise you?

[Hat tip Sandy]