Can a Cities culture change your personality towards people? (college, income)
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I don't think it's a dumb question. I always find it interesting that people always complain about this area or that area being full of rude people--and of course, it's not them, it's everyone around them! But I do find that, yes, you do pick up on the culture of a particular area, but the strongest influences on your personality are going to be more immediate and direct--family, friends, schools/education, and of course, just your in-born temperment....If I encounter people who are not very friendly, I sometimes find myself ramping up the friendliness factor to make up for their unfriendliness--I figure they're not very happy for whatever reason and could probably use a smile, politeness, appreciation, etc.
I think I have changed significantly since I moved to the urban Northeast. I have become more standoffish, suspicious, less social and more guarded than I did when I was living in a small town in the Midwest.
This board is full of postings complaining about how certain cities have so many jerks, or people are unfriendly in one town or another. I wonder how much of it is based on the types of personalities that will gravitate towards a particular city or people's reaction and assimilation to the standing culture of a town or state. Maybe if I would have relocated to Nashville, TN with its southern manners and open personality I would have become friendlier. It is possible living in a city can change someone without them even knowing it.
Can a town change one's personality?
For most people:
The culture of a particular area can definitely change them.
I am a Wash DC native; born/raised and hindsight being 20/20, never really felt at home there.
Here I am living in Low Desert Arizona which feels more like 'home' than DC ever did.
I agree as well. I do struggle with this, however. It's true that there are different cultures everywhere, and every area has a slightly different "feel". But in the long run, people are people, especailly one on one.
I agree! I don't mean to say that differences in cultures or regions don't exist. Just saying they're overblown and exaggerated. Seriously.
The culture of a particular area can definitely change them.
I am a Wash DC native; born/raised and hindsight being 20/20, never really felt at home there.
Here I am living in Low Desert Arizona which feels more like 'home' than DC ever did.
I wonder if people who are "native" to Las Vegas feel the same way as you describe your subjective experiance in WA DC....my point here is that both cities DC,and Vegas both were created by will and not by convergence.....I don't know? maybe
I think there are regional differences. I spent 40 yrs in PA: 2o in a small city and 20 yrs in a medium sized city. Now i am living in a big midwestern city. I have found people in my home state to have integrity and to be more honest in general, than people i have met in St. Louis, who all seem to be running some sort of scam regardless of their class or status. Have you heard the MO state motto? "SHOW ME" -- ? Because their WORDS cannot be trusted. Apparently since people rode mules alongside the Mississippi it has been like this.
2nd point: There is a great deal of conceit here in general, but it seems to be based on a feeling of INSECURITY. "St Louis was the first in this, the best in that" but it's because they KNOW they are considered "fly over country" or a second or third class city, by much of the rest of the country. This attitude is more dangerous than it seems, because it pervades every interaction with STL born individuals. This insecurity breeds bullies.
I can't believe that everyone in STL is like this. But a disproportionate share of the people i've encountered in 3 yrs living here is what i am commenting on. As an outsider in an insular place, i am a target... Imagine what an immigrant or refugee would face here!!
I love St. Louis. I have family in the area. Everyone I've met there seems just fine.
I don't live there, but I don't see much conceit. If anything, I see people degrading their city. Maybe the reason they feel insecure is because they're constantly being described as a "little Chicago" or in your case "fly over country". Decades of other cities degrading them can breed insecurity and the need to defend yourself.
I have never met someone who feels as intensely as you do. Unless they were exaggerating. If anything, I've heard how friendly St. Louis in general is, like a little big city.
And when you go from a small town to a big city, people are going to seem colder and less friendly. That's just the way it is.
I just don't see where you get this, unless it's all you focus on. The people I've met in St. Louis seem generally friendly. And there are immigrants in St. Louis. In the past few years there have been more Bosnian immigrants coming into the city.
I think I have changed significantly since I moved to the urban Northeast. I have become more standoffish, suspicious, less social and more guarded than I did when I was living in a small town in the Midwest.
This board is full of postings complaining about how certain cities have so many jerks, or people are unfriendly in one town or another. I wonder how much of it is based on the types of personalities that will gravitate towards a particular city or people's reaction and assimilation to the standing culture of a town or state. Maybe if I would have relocated to Nashville, TN with its southern manners and open personality I would have become friendlier. It is possible living in a city can change someone without them even knowing it.
Can a town change one's personality?
Yep, a town can change a man's personality. Like Scranton said, it depends on your willpower. Sometimes you move to a city, settle in, and become like the residents without even acknowledging it, even if you hate the place. I've met new people who come to MN, complain about how MN nice is fake, and then act like other Minnesotans. It happens all the time if you stay there long enough.
I've met new people who come to MN, complain about how MN nice is fake, and then act like other Minnesotans. It happens all the time if you stay there long enough.
People get "assimilated" into the local culture. So true! I know people (probably me included) who complain about the polite but distant Seattle culture but start behaving the same way after a few years.
Bull****. Southern hospitality is bull****. I lived in the South for over 20 years, I know of what I speak. There are good people and bad people everywhere. Stereotypes are just that, stereotypes. I've met many very warm, friendly, gregarious people from New York, Pennsylvania, etc. And I've met more than my fair share of *******s from Alabama, Georgia, etc.
With that being said, i think this is a silly question.
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I think it almost childish, naive at best, to characterize an entire region(the south), as nice. The south has some of the highest crime rates in the nation(think Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Tampa, Memphis, etc.), sky-high gun-ownership, and near the bottom in many
educational standards, and quality-of-life surveys......not to mention, there are plenty of just plain mean folks down south....that being said,
there are nice folks everywhere......if there really was a nice region in the USA, it would have to be the far northern region, from Wisconsin west to Minnesota and the Dakotas......Proximity to Canada, with the safest and nicest folks in north america, could be a factor.
I think it almost childish, naive at best, to characterize an entire region(the south), as nice. The south has some of the highest crime rates in the nation(think Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Tampa, Memphis, etc.), sky-high gun-ownership, and near the bottom in many
educational standards, and quality-of-life surveys......not to mention, there are plenty of just plain mean folks down south....that being said,
there are nice folks everywhere......if there really was a nice region in the USA, it would have to be the far northern region, from Wisconsin west to Minnesota and the Dakotas......Proximity to Canada, with the safest and nicest folks in north america, could be a factor.
If by "nice" you mean law abiding, you may be right. If by "nice" you mean congenial, perhaps not as much.
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