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This map draws on millions of survey responses from the online dating site OkCupid to gauge the average user's level of "openness to experience" in every MSA in the US. Openness to experience is a widely recognized personality trait in modern psychology, which involves curiosity, unconventionality, appreciation of the arts, humanities, and sciences, and a hunger for adventure. People low in this trait would be described as more conventional, grounded, practical, and traditional.
This is one of 13 maps that OkCupid generated based on factor analysis, a process wherein artificial intelligence aggregates huge numbers of responses to a few hundred survey questions and identifies responses that correlate the most strongly (e.g. someone who answers "yes" to "Do you like swimming?" is also likely to answer "yes" to "Do you enjoy days at the beach?") These 13 maps, theoretically, should represent the regional strength of various personality traits, and the authors of this article chose to label this response cluster as "openness to experience", because a lot of the questions that correlated together related to the above qualities.
So here's my first question: why is openness to experience so much higher in the Western states than in the Midwest, Northeast, and South? (There's also a lesser correlation with big cities - which makes sense; when you're surrounded by cultural events, indie film shows, and weird, iconoclastic people, you'll tend to become more appreciative of the ideas they offer.) Do mountains just inspire people to seek greater horizons? Or are the genetic descendants of pioneers who migrated across the country likely to be more adventurous than the average?
Surprised that Texas seems more "open" than most of Pennsylvania or New England given Texas's conservative reputation. I'm surprised so much of South Louisiana is "conventional" due to the social liberalism here. Funny thing is North Louisiana actually looks more "open" though North Louisiana is more socially conservative with more Protestants while South Louisiana is extremely liberal socially with Catholics and the Cajun culture.
Surprised that Texas seems more "open" than most of Pennsylvania or New England given Texas's conservative reputation. I'm surprised so much of South Louisiana is "conventional" due to the social liberalism here. Funny thing is North Louisiana actually looks more "open" though North Louisiana is more socially conservative with more Protestants while South Louisiana is extremely liberal socially with Catholics and the Cajun culture.
I score high in open to experience. I am in the top 10% of unconventionality on the HEXACO personality test. Yet I am extremely conservative on many issues. Breitbart actually banned me from commenting on their articles because my views are so far on the fringe right wing (although I am liberal on some issues as well). So I don't think there is a direct correlation between open to experience and liberalism.
Because we all know that a survey from OkCupid is reliable and sample-based fact....
It's pretty funny that your location says Philadelphia which ranked low on "openness to experience" all the while you're not being open to this survey experience. Coincidence? You tell us..
It's pretty funny that your location says Philadelphia which ranked low on "openness to experience" all the while you're not being open to this survey experience. Coincidence? You tell us..
Because I know numbers pulled from OkCupid aren't scientifically valid. I love legitimate statistics, but this is far from it.
I score high in open to experience. I am in the top 10% of unconventionality on the HEXACO personality test. Yet I am extremely conservative on many issues. Breitbart actually banned me from commenting on their articles because my views are so far on the fringe right wing (although I am liberal on some issues as well). So I don't think there is a direct correlation between open to experience and liberalism.
Yeah, statistically the correlation between openness and liberalism is there, but it isn't that strong - and it's only social liberalism that correlates; libertarians are just as open as left-wing liberals. Openness is about tolerance for non-traditional people, ideas, and behaviors, not about (perhaps excessive) sympathy for marginalized people.
I'm thinking one factor in the Eastern US scoring lower, on average, could be lower population growth and older settlement - i.e. fewer new people and ideas coming in; more families who have roots in the area for generations.
As for the West, the Eastern settlers who moved out there were obviously more open to new experiences... and they passed down the same attitudes to future generations.
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