September 11, 2008

"Wisconsin ranked second for 'extraversion' behind North Dakota and fifth for 'agreeableness,' again, behind No. 1 North Dakota..."

Well, hell, I'm moving to North Dakota.
Looks like Wisconsin is a hotbed of nice.

“It appears people who live there are healthy, friendly, socially outgoing,” said Jason Rentfrow, a Louisiana-born, English-based lecturer in social and political sciences at Cambridge. “It looks like people are calm, even-tempered, down-to-earth and practical.”...

People were asked to read 44 short statements — such as, “I see myself as very outgoing” — and rate their level of agreement on a scale of one to five....

[Wisconsin] ranked 20th for conscientiousness, 35th for neuroticism and 47th for openness.
Hey, wait a second! 47th for openness? Why am I believing self-assessments of niceness from people who are not "open"? Why am I believing self-assessments of openness from people who are not open? This survey seems to collapse on itself.

That said, you've got to see the important inverse correlation between niceness and openness. How do you think people are able to be so nice?

34 comments:

Meade said...

Wisconsin should bus in some mean people like me, so it won't be so unintegrated and lacking in diversity.

rhhardin said...

I always liked angry reminders from sociology students in the dorm mailbox, reminding people to return their questionaires.

That was Ohio.

knox said...

Thanks for that! my worst nightmare: angry sociologist students

john said...

Should be no surprise to commenters here of the inverse correlation between niceness and openness.

Harwood said...

Hmmm ... a survey that asks questions of the form "I see myself as ________."

If I take any stock in that, I see myself as downright gullible.

Daryl said...

Wisconsin ranks highly in people who see themselves as friendly and extroverted.

Others see them differently. I wouldn't want to live in that passive-aggressive hellhole.

At least Californians and New Yorkers aren't afraid to admit when we're not being super-friendly. You know: openness and honesty, instead of the tension that comes with maintaining a passive-aggressive facade all the time.

Trooper York said...

Wisconisn is number one in cheese and old quarterbacks...oh wait...nevermind.

Daryl said...

P.S.: Althouse chooses the text of her posts very carefully. It's no mistake that she included the following unnecessary line:

People were asked to read 44 short statements — such as, “I see myself as very outgoing” — and rate their level of agreement on a scale of one to five....

as a signal to Wisconsin-skeptics to disagree with the stated message of her post.

That's how passive-aggressive people behave, dontchaknow?

Joe said...

You can't rank 2nd for 'extraversion' and claim a place is nice. They are two different things. Once again we see rampant ignorance and blatant discrimination against the introverted (we're nice, we just don't want to talk to you.)

goesh said...

- don't look to me as an example, I was born and raised up there - the air is very clean too

Joe said...

Actually, this poll shows Wisonsinians are the second most self-deluded people in the country. Utahns claim to be happy but use the most prescription drugs, how that ranks in the self-delusion department since while high, they probably are happy.

George M. Spencer said...

The word 'nice' originally meant ignorant or foolish a thousand years ago.

Have a nice day.

bearbee said...

New Yorkers are neurotic and unfriendly, says Cambridge University 'personality map'

Key findings:

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.


Our candidates states-

Alaska:
EXTRAVERSION Low scoring AGREEABLENESS Low scoring CONSCIENTIOUSNESS low scoring NEUROTICISM low scoring
OPENNESS low scoring

Arizona:
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS high scoring NEUROTICISM low scoring

Delaware: OPENNESS low scoring

Illinois: EXTRAVERSION High scoring

Asante Samuel said...

Can't someone (ZPS, Alpha) put a racist, sexist or Palin-bashing spin on this article to make it interesting enough to read?

vbspurs said...

Questions:

Why do wide open spaces consistently produce honest, happy people?

Why do mountain ranges consistently produce people with inferiority complexes and wills of iron?

Why do beach towns consistently produce lazy people who think they're God's gift?

Why do farming lands consistently produce conservative, judgemental, and dutiful people?

Across time and place, no matter what language is spoken, no matter which God you worship, I hold these truths to be self-evident.

Or damn near true.

Cheers,
Victoria

Original Mike said...

So what you're saying is that Freder doesn't live in Wisconsin. I'm glad to hear that.

Jim said...

I second daryl's comment about the "passive-aggressive hellhole"...

I lived just across the border in Minnesota for a couple of years and experienced what they call "Minnesota nice" - because all the people there are so nice and cheerful.

Except that they're not at all nice as soon as you leave the room. What they actually are, in fact, are some of the most vicious, nasty "behind your back" gossipers and back-stabbers you'll ever meet.

I ran away from that area of the country as quickly as I could, and you couldn't pay me to go back. It turns out that the sub-zero winter weather there is nothing compared to the contents of the hearts of the people who live there.

(I will add the caveat that I can't, and won't, say that every single person is like that. However, it was my experience - and that of every person I've ever talked to about the phenomenon - that it's an accurate description of the vast majority of the population.)

Trooper York said...

I have to admit that I was never in Wisconsin. I would like to go to Green Bay. I would like to go out to Lambau Field. Walk out on to the gridion. Look where the greats have played. Bart Starr, Nitsche,Horning, Taylor, Brockington, Farve.

And take a dump.

Chip Ahoy said...

John Hickenlooper, mayor Denver, bless 'im, recently spoke to some kind of civic meeting reviewing the recent DNC national convention. One thing he emphasized surprised me. He said to a man, and woman, the feedback he got was Denver citizens were so nice. Many indicated to John a desire to move here. Perhaps they were just trying to be nice to the mayor.

Glad to hear that but it did not completely compute. Of the varied places I've lived, Denver has been singularly the most difficult to crack. And by crack I mean use my mad social skillz to fit in to the point of feeling accepted. I thought it might be because the move here occurred during difficult teenage years, and I had quite frankly had my fill of moving, but that group-fitting difficulty held through five subsequent schools and two job changes. Since all that, I find that people are generally nice, just a bit protective and closed.

Please do not move here. It is not recommended. We don't much care for newcomers. Save for the developers who are all for it.

This concludes the single insight I have to contribute to this thread.

Trooper York said...

Cause ya know that's what the Packers did when they saw Big Blue come in for the NFC Championship game.

When they saw THE WORLD CHAMPION NEW YORK GIANTS!

Did I tell you lately that the Giants won the Superbowl?

chuck b. said...

I think reservedness can be very nice indeed. I find oversharing disagreeable. Limits, boundaries--these are valuable commodities and important personal skills.

On the subject of regional niceness, I invariably find people to be exceptionally nice when I visit some place that I've never been to before.

The niceness is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Visitors to our home often remark that San Franciscans seem very nice, and I furrow my brow because living here I don't think there's overly much "nice". I try to do my part.

vbspurs said...

Visitors to our home often remark that San Franciscans seem very nice

But they are! :)

Miamians are not nice. They're laid-back. It's different.

(I would go further and say people are actively hostile here, but in ironically a passive-aggressive way mentioned by Jim. Miami is not the place to go if you don't like people gossipping about you, the moment you leave the room. They'll do it in 3 languages, at that)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Why do farming lands consistently produce conservative, judgemental, and dutiful people?

When environmentalist found that research grants where primarily going to global warming research they started finding innovative ways to somehow insert a global warming impact clause on their request – whatever it was.

I know there’s got to be a reference to pigs with lipstick here somewhere ;)

rhhardin said...

I wish somebody would explain mesomorphic and ectomorphic to me. The dictionary is no help.

They were on a list of words worth knowing. I doubt it. I can't see using them so far as I understand them, for anything.

I wouldn't be surprised if Madison people were one or the other, though.

Original Mike said...

Brockington, Trooper?

Original Mike said...

Oh, I see. He was from Brooklyn. I guess that's something.

blake said...

How'd they get the introverts to take the test?

William said...

Every so often on the East Side of Manhattan you will see an endomorph. Then they disappear. I have been told that they are disposed of humanely and not to inquire further....Wisconsin is the endomorph center of America. Endomorphs are nice because they have to be.

Trooper York said...

John Brockington and I played against each other in b-ball in brooklyn and I will have you know he kicked my ass three ways from Sunday. Once there was a little tussle on the court and I ran like a bitch.

He is my all time favorite Packer and a great man. Had some interesting things to say about being a black man in Green Bay back in the day but that's another story for another day.

Trooper York said...

I will admit that there was one Wisconsin team that I really rooted for and wish I had a chance to see in County Stadium (it was County stadium right Original Mike). It was "Harvey's Wallbangers" with Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper, Don Money, Ben Oglivie, Paul Molitor and my all time favorite Non-Yankee Player Gorman Thomas. Now that was a great fucking team.

Original Mike said...

Missed it by that much.

Original Mike said...

Right, Trooper. County Stadium. They tore it down a little while ago for Miller Park.

Trooper York said...

I heat the brawts and beer are great.

Arse Politico said...

Just trolling here and I'd like to say one word: BINGO. Glad you thought about it twice before you made a personal judgment and and a move.

I'm with Meade and Daryl. highly extroverted + isolated (selfish) =nice+ exclusionary^3=passive-aggressive+ justification/persecution complex about it.