The relationship between US state and personality
myPersonality has drawn maps of how the personalities of different states in the US differ. The most friendly and outgoing Americans are in the deep south, people on the east of America are less relaxed than people on the west, and the most trusting people are in the north western states.
myPersonality has also created a new feature that compares your personality to the personalities of each US State, and tells you which one is closest. Take myPersonality’s Big Five questionnaire to find out which state reflects your personality.
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Method and Results
Of course, even within the states with the highest openness there are still people with traditional personalities. These maps are based on averages across lots of different people within the state. The differences are significant, but fairly small. For example, there is a 5.4% difference between the most open and the least open state. Nevertheless, the fact that these differences occur consistently across geographic areas is still interesting.
In order to produce the maps, the average trait scores for each state were calculated based on myPersonality data collected from over 225,000 Facebook users who have kindly given permission for this information to be stored. The states were then ranked on each trait from the highest score to the lowest score. Finally, a colour was calculated based on the ranking of the trait.
Very interesting observation. I very much like this “relationship between US state and personality” It might help people find a little closure if they were to move to another state. Might help them find there “comfort state”, if that in fact, is what they are looking for.
I think it is a good idea to add this kind of applications!
because we can really make use of our “traits” information~
I have just created a blog talking about personality test. I think your facebook application is good tests for people to try~
I have just added your test to my recommendation list~
please continue to add more interesting appplication
support^^
FreePersonalityTestBlog.blogspot.com
P.S. I think the “College Major” prediction is quite useful and accurate, but the MBTI prediction is not too accurate…may be some amendments are required~
As a student in the UK currently studying US history, I think it is a fascinating insight into the american people.
And the College Major prediction shows the subjects i enjoyed most at school, however not the one i was best at.
I think that it is extreamly funny how my personality does not fit that well into my home state, although it was one of the top three.
Hi David,
I’m using your app My Personality on Facebook since one year now.
I just did the whole 100 questions again and I was amazed how my results evolved all positively in one year.
I know the questions are a bit all the same, in a slightly different meaning or way of asking, actually I made one year of psychology in my home country (Switzerland). Now I’m studying communication and all kind of medias and I’d be very interested at translating your app for french-speaking users.
I saw that your study is aimed at US, but these users represent now a large part on facebook servers and, generally in the world…
It takes only one hour or two and, because it’s all multiple-choice boxes, your results will coordinate.. Just leave a message if you’re interested, a got 2 weeks holidays right now and time to offer.
Greetings
So Interesting…I currently live in my #9 state and have a special affinity for my number 2 state (but I don’ think I’ll ever live there)…..but I have been seriously considering relocating to States 1 & 3
Would be interesting to see maps like these of Europe.
I live in California,
I Love california
and I got California
DC was in my top three and that is where I want to go to college. BUT
the majors thing was all screwed up for me.
I too was very surprised by the majors match and the state match! It was very accurate! I was originally a music ed major for my first 3 years of college, and i really didn’t like the program at my college that was set up for music ed, because it was too general and too condensed. But I was originally going to do something with English or journalism, which is interesting because journalism was my first match. Music ed was my third match, with psychology being my second. I am finishing up my license for teaching in Tennessee, which was my 6th match for states–Texas being the first, then North Carolina and then Georgia. Very interesting!
Wow. I am decently satisfied with the results. Very accurate on personality, and the states thing is cool!
What stuck me as strange as I used to live in the state it said i was most appropriate for
My college major preferances corespond 100%
yeah please make a similar map of the european countries too!
I’m so happy with my results! the state I’m going to college in came out as #1, and my homestate came out as #2! and my intended major, mathematics, came up as #2 on the majors list. i thought it was interesting that i got biochem as #1 and chem as #3 when i’m not really fond of chemistry, but that could just be because i had a dreadful chem teacher.
The fact that extroversion is highest in the south makes me smile and explains alot of differences.
Hmm, I really appreciated the personality profile but am still cautious about the results. I only completed 100 of the 336 questions, and while my results were close to how I conceptualize things/situations, they are not completely accurate about how I am in relationships in that each is multidimensional and unique.
I thought it ironic too (as someone else posted) that I am from the same area of the country which the test said I matched. While I enjoy some aspects of those states, I do not enjoy living in that part of the country.
I am also curious as to how the personality traits can be applied to a major not on the “matched” list… How, if at all, do the results change with completion of more questions?
Thanks – It was fun.
Interesting… apparently I ‘belong’ in Hawaii.
Also, my girlfriend, who hasn’t taken the test but I imagine will score very similar to me (low conscientiousness, high everything else) lives in Michigan, and is always complaining that she doesn’t fit it there. But because my only experience of Michigan is of her and her friends I always thought of it as state after my own heart… I guess she was right :P
It’s interesting to see how traits differ in different ways across states… I just assumed all traits would have predictable north-south-west distributions. I would definitely be interested if a European one were next.
Twice now, I’ve been shown that Vermont is home I’ve been looking for. I’m a born-and-raised Southern Californian, so maybe I’m subconsciously reacting to all the violence, heat, speed, and noise that I’ve always been surrounded by. Time for a change of pace.
Very very very very interesting study!
Looking forward to maps of the countries as well!
What about correlation of different traits?
Looking at maps here seems that E and N are very correlated.
Compliments and keep up the good work!
Comparing the states, I found it interesting that the Openness vs Extraversion could be overlapped where one side was weak, the other strong. Same with Neoroticism and Agreeableness. I loved the test, and think it’s one of the best resources availible of its kind.
the state im born and raised in (arizona) was my #34… hmmm. 34 is my favorite number, and im VERY rare here, a native of phoenix. i come few and far. :D
…so ths state has a huge mixture of people…
@Samantha
Haha my home state was #46. I HATED New Jersey
While this is very interesting, I don’t think I could handle a state full of people like me. The only people that I can stand that are a lot like me are the people that I call close friends. Not sure how they became close friends but when I meet new people like us, they seem to rub me the wrong way. I would be irritated to no end in a place with more than 1 of me lol.