The University of Cambridge came out with a study a little over a week ago, where they looked at personality traits by state.

They wanted to see if different regions had different personalities. This makes some sense to me. I mean people that live in Oregon and Washington tend to want to want be in the outdoors which is a totally different way of living than someone who wants to live in downtown Chicago or New York. Different types of people are going to be attracted to different lifestyles.

Now the study was over the course of 6 years and 619,397 people across the US participated in the online study.

They looked at 5 social traits. The Telegraph summarized the study in the following manner:

I bolded where Oregon scored in the top or lows.

EXTRAVERSION
Personality traits: Sociable, energetic and enthusiastic
High-scoring states: North Dakota, Wisconsin, District of Columbia,
Nebraska, Minnesota, Georgia, South Dakota, Utah, Illinois, Florida
Low-scoring states: Vermont, Washington, Alaska, New Hampshire, Maryland,
Idaho, Virginia, Oregon, Montana, Massachusetts

AGREEABLENESS
Personality traits: Warm, compassionate, co-operative
and friendly.
Highest-scoring states: North Dakota, Minnesota, Mississippi,
Utah, Wisconsin, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Nebraska.
Lowest-scoring states: New York, Nevada, Wyoming, District of Columbia,
Alaska, Maine, Rhode Island, Virginia, Connecticut, Montana.

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
Personality traits: Dutiful, responsible,
self-disciplined.
Highest-scoring states: New Mexico, North Carolina,
Georgia, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida, Arizona, Missouri.
Lowest-scoring states: Wyoming, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Maine, Alaska,
Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York.

NEUROTICISM
Personality traits: Anxious, stressful and impulsive.
Highest-scoring states: West Virginia, Rhode Island, New York, Mississippi,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Arkansas.
Lowest-scoring states: Alaska, Oregon, South Dakota,
Colorado, Utah, Washington, Arizona, Nebraska, North Dakota, Nevada.

OPENNESS
Personality traits: Curious, intellectual, creative.
Highest-scoring states: District of Columbia, New York, Oregon, Massachusetts, Washington, California, Vermont,
Colorado, Nevada, Maryland.
Lowest-scoring states: Wisconsin, Alabama,
Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nebraska, Iowa, Delaware.

So, according to the study, if you are introverted, laid back, creative and smart, you’ll fit in just fine here in Oregon.

(c) Copyright, 2008. Melina Tomson, All Rights Reserved (ie…be nice and create your own content. Don’t steal mine…)

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