Regional Personalities

Amid the psycho-babble of my professional journals, I found a fascinating article that can be useful to writers seeking to infuse regional personalities into their stories. Rentfrow's (2010) study of psychological geography found that Florida is filled with agreeable, conscientious neurotics. As a Floridian, I'll give him two out of three.

Writing in American Psychologist (Sept.2010), Dr Peter Rentfrow analyzes five personality domains

1.  extraversion
2. agreeableness
3. conscientiousness
4. neuroticism
5. openness

What does this information do for you as a writer? It's a credible study that can add to your knowledge or assumptions about the overall behavior of people within a given region of the U.S.  For example, Rentfrow mentions the assumptions that "New Yorkers are outspoken,neurotic and always in a hurry", "Californians are laid-back, superficially charming" and "Texans are slow talking, friendly and proud members of NRA" (p 548) Do you agree? Is that how you have portrayed characters in your writing?

This journal has several articles that writers might find worthwhile. If you can't read this online, add it to your research list for the next visit to a university library.

Rentfrow,P. (Sept 2010). Statewide difference in personality:towards a psychological geography of the United States. American Psychologist, 65,6,548-558