Social scientists have divided the United States into three distinct regions based upon the preponderant personality type: friendly/conventional, relaxed/creative and temperamental/ uninhibited. The map above was compiled by Jason Rentfrow, an American by birth and senior lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and published by Time.
Virginia and North Carolina represent an isolated, East Coast bastion of the relaxed and creative personality type. The Tarheel state is close to Washington in temperament; Virginia is somewhat diluted version of both. As I read the map, the relaxed-and-creative personality type predominates but not strongly so. Still, our personality mix sets us apart from both the more temperamental Northeast and the more conventional South.
You can test your own personality profile — just click here. Here’s my profile:
Bacon personality profile.
Calm and relaxed — what else do you expect from a blogger who works at home in shorts and t-shirts? As for my conscientiousness, family members certainly would agree that I err toward the “disorganized” end of the personality spectrum.
I post my profile because it fits the relaxed-creative profile of the Old Dominion. I find that significant. An underlying premise of the personality mapping is that people migrate from place to place, and they tend to linger in places where they fit in. For all my kvetching about Virginia, I love the place. I fit in. I plan to stay here until I die.
An open invitation. I would love to see the personality profiles of other Bacon’s Rebellion contributors and commenters — even readers, for that matter. What’s your personality type? How closely do you align with the collective Virginia personality? And what influence might that have upon your perception of the Commonwealth? Email me your results. If I get enough responses, I will post them on the blog.
Here’s Don “Don the Ripper” Rippert’s profile:
And frequent commenter Richard Rogers:
Other readers report their personality profiles in the comments.
— JAB
