Home > US States, big five > The relationship between US state and personality

The relationship between US state and personality

December 9th, 2008 David Leave a comment Go to comments

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.

openness by us state
Openness
conscientiousness by us state
Conscientiousness
extraversion by us state
Extraversion
agreeableness by us state
Agreeableness
neuroticism by us state
Neuroticism
Click the images to view a larger version

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.

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  1. Matthew S. Herbeck
    December 9th, 2008 at 06:35 | #1

    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.

  2. December 18th, 2008 at 05:56 | #2

    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~

  3. SuperJammy
    January 10th, 2009 at 11:12 | #3

    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.

  4. Samantha
    January 11th, 2009 at 19:54 | #4

    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.

  5. January 18th, 2009 at 05:51 | #5

    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

  6. C
    January 20th, 2009 at 05:43 | #6

    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

  7. ‘D
    January 26th, 2009 at 14:48 | #7

    Would be interesting to see maps like these of Europe.

  8. Mec
    January 30th, 2009 at 04:25 | #8

    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.

  9. Megalou
    February 24th, 2009 at 20:16 | #9

    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!

  10. Greg
    March 8th, 2009 at 04:25 | #10

    Wow. I am decently satisfied with the results. Very accurate on personality, and the states thing is cool!

  11. sabradell
    March 24th, 2009 at 11:35 | #11

    What stuck me as strange as I used to live in the state it said i was most appropriate for

  12. R
    April 19th, 2009 at 16:16 | #12

    My college major preferances corespond 100%

  13. vivivi
    April 30th, 2009 at 20:02 | #13

    yeah please make a similar map of the european countries too!

  14. Joe
    May 17th, 2009 at 15:56 | #14

    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.

  15. May 25th, 2009 at 03:01 | #15

    The fact that extroversion is highest in the south makes me smile and explains alot of differences.

  16. d
    May 30th, 2009 at 19:10 | #16

    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.

  17. May 31st, 2009 at 12:45 | #17

    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.

  18. Jordan
    June 28th, 2009 at 02:32 | #18

    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.

  19. Tom
    August 3rd, 2009 at 23:14 | #19

    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!

  20. September 3rd, 2009 at 04:33 | #20

    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.

  21. November 24th, 2009 at 07:18 | #21

    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…

  1. August 23rd, 2009 at 11:03 | #1

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