If all 16,551 people who have taken myPersonality’s Satisfaction With Life Scale were lined up from those most satisfied with their lives to those least satisfied, then the average person from the US’s most satisfied State, Vermont, would be in the 36th percentile, but the average person from the least satisfied State, Rhode Island, would be down in the 68th percentile. That’s a big difference considering that they are only about 80 miles apart.
Our data are shown in the graph below, displaying the aggregate Satisfaction With Life scores for all of the 50 US States and the District of Columbia. Also shown are error bars. Broadly, large error bars mean that we can be less certain of where the true score lies. For example, Wyoming has a large error bar because since it is the least populated state it is the one that we have the least amount of data for.
We compared the myPersonality rankings to those from the recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which also ranks US States, and found a favourable correlation between the two sets of rankings, suggesting that myPersonality’s analyses have validity when compared to this much more comprehensive poll.
Method & Results
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September 18th, 2009
David
Our final world trait map based on myPersonality data is for aggregate Agreeableness. Agreeableness can broadly be characterised as co-operative (high Agreeableness, high rank and dark orange on the map) vs. competitive (low Agreeableness, low rank and light orange on the map). myPersonality has already shown that high Agreeableness is associated with studying more social majors like massage therapy, sociology, and elementary education, whereas low Agreeableness is associated with studying more combative majors such as law, international relations and political science (see our Personality Matches feature to see which college major is closest to your personality).
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Agreeableness shows the most clear geographical distinction out of the five traits, although perhaps not in the direction that one would expect. The most competitive area is Central and Eastern Europe, followed by South America. South East Asia has average to high Agreeableness scores, and the most co-operative countries are in North America and Africa.
That concludes our aggregate trait world mapping series, we hope you found it interesting and surprising.
Method & Results
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September 6th, 2009
David
Our latest map based on myPersonality data is for aggregate Neuroticism. Dark purple and a high rank denotes a high Neuroticism score, suggesting that the country’s population considers themselves in touch with their emotions but are liable to get stressed our more easily. Lighter purple and a low rank denotes a low Neuroticism score, suggesting that the population are more laid back than other countries’ citizens but at the extremes may be too emotionless. Sometimes a bit of stress is important in order to spur one to get something finished.
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Countries clustered around the Mediterranean tend to have high Neuroticism scores, whereas those in Central America seem to have particularly low scores.
Next week will bring our final world map, for the Agreeableness trait. Which countries do you think will be the most competitive or most cooperative?
Method & Results
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Continuing our aggregate trait mapping series, below we include the world map for Conscientiousness based on myPersonality data. Dark green and a high rank denotes a high Conscientiousness trait score, suggesting that citizens like to plan their actions in advance and complete their tasks reliably. Low Conscientiousness scores indicate that they consider themselves more flexible, and may be more able to cope when things go wrong and a plan cannot be followed rigidly.
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Central and Northern Europe seems to be the least conscientious area, although the pattern is not clear cut as Germany and Switzerland are relatively better at planning than those around them, whereas much of Africa describe themselves as the most conscientious.
The remaining 2 traits will follow in the coming weeks! Next week: Neuroticism.
Method & Results
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Continuing our series from last Sunday, below we include the world map for Extraversion based on myPersonality data. Dark red and a high rank denotes a high Extraversion trait score. A high extraversion score indicates that citizens consider themselves outgoing and most comfortable around other people. Low extraversion scores indicate that they consider themselves more content with their own company.
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There are a cluster of countries in and around the Balkans that rate themselves as the most outgoing, whereas east and south-east Asians describe themselves as the most introverted.
It’s worth noting that averaging across a large country may mask variations between geographical areas within it. For example, myPersonality has already shown that aggregate personalities in the United States differ by State. If the most extraverted and least extraverted State within America were included on this map as countries, then the most extraverted State, Mississippi, would be ranked 119/123 and the least extraverted State, Delaware, would be ranked 28/123.
The other 3 traits will follow in the coming weeks!
Method & Results
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