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"I also want to know what states and regions of the US have the shyest people?"
states: Idaho, Montana, North Dakota.
regions: Upper Midwest?
I saw a survey that said North Dakota was the most extroverted (least shy) state but also the least open to experience. In general the upper Midwest is very friendly.A shy person might still like it because people are nice.
So you met some skateboarders that were outgoing and now the entire state of California is considered extroverted?
Have you lived in the PNW? I have. It's not any more or less introverted than other parts of the country.
Every single person is different and it has very little to do with where you live.
I have seen many studies and maps of state personality types....based on real data...and the PNW is definitely an introverted part of the country. That doesn't mean every single person is introverted, it means a higher % than the national average.
Yeah, I'm somewhat skeptical, myself. Would have to hear more about the methodology used, which might be available in conjunction with the second map, given the 'roll over for more information'. Both maps are pretty similar, however, which doesn't suggest utter randomness in regards to the thinking behind them. Intuitively I tend to agree with your assessments, though....
It's from a series of maps tracking the "big five" personality traits. This is the only kind of personality test which has shown to have some accuracy. The five fundamental traits of personality are:
Extroversion
Openness to Experience
Conscientiousness (basically, if you're hardworking and organized or lazy and messy)
Neuroticism (are you depressed, anxious, etc)
Agreeableness (do you like to limit conflict to make other people happy, or not GAF?)
Everybody falls on a spectrum within those five traits (so, for example, I'm low extroversion, high openness, low conscientiousness, low neuroticism, and high agreeableness). These traits seem to vary independently (they don't correlate with each other).
My guess is they gave everyone this personality test, and asked what state they were from.
The limitation of the test is that you take it yourself, and your score is based upon your own self-perception. So for example I know a guy who is a much harder worker and more organized than I am. He still scores low on conscientiousness, because by his own standards he thinks he could be trying harder.
It may be that people in the Midwest tend to think of themselves as being outgoing and friendly, even though they are not, because the social norm there is to say you're outgoing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by potanta
For a shy person who wants to make friends, don't live somewhere where the people are shy. Live somewhere where there are more extroverts so you don't feel shy.
IMHO, no. It's easier for an introvert to make friends with an extrovert than another introvert. But introverts and extroverts tend to want different things out of friendship, and find different activities fun. A lot of introverts, for example, really hate going to parties unless they can glom on to the one person they know and follow them around all night. Or need time to "recharge" and be alone after being unusually social. Or when they go out they want to spend a lot of time in one-on-one conversations with friends, rather than hanging out in large groups. Extroverts don't get this.
Once I was out of college, I actually found that most of my friends ended up being women rather than men because there's a very easy way to make female friends - go out on dates and then decide you're not interested in them romantically. It's much harder if you're a straight guy to ask another guy if he wants to go out to a concert with you or something.
For a shy person who wants to make friends, don't live somewhere where the people are shy. Live somewhere where there are more extroverts so you don't feel shy. The PNW has a ton of introverts and shy people. California is the opposite. There are tons of extroverted people such as extroverted skateboarders there. I am shy and whenever I visit my cousin's friends in California, they are so extroverted that I never feel shy around them.
+1. If you want to make friends, gotta be around extroverts.
The Pacific NW is not monolithic in this regard. Seattle would be a perfectly suitable place to not ever talk to anybody, but in Spokane you will make 5 friends by the time you walk off the train to the bar.
I feel like Denver is shy, though I won't get much agreement on that.
And if OP wants to break out of the shy shell, small towns are the way to go.
I think I recall that too, from a study, but studies will have different results. Anyway, I don't know if it's most extroverted of all but Wisconsiners I've met have been on the more extroverted and sociable side, yes.
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Wait a minute, didn't you just get done posting up-thread that the Midwest has many shy and reserved people in part because many of its original immigrants were German? Wisconsin is one of the most German states in the nation. You also cited Scandinavians for the same reason. Lotsa them in WI, too!
Wait a minute, didn't you just get done posting up-thread that the Midwest has many shy and reserved people in part because many of its original immigrants were German?
I never said "the Midwest". And I never said "German" alone. Just give me some credit that I can at least remember what I wrote an hour before.
I specifically said the upper Midwest in reference to Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota as stated in my first post here. I figured people knew that I was referring to these states in following posts and not, say, Michigan. But I see that I shouldn't have assumed. And I added Scandinavian because that is important.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Around
Wisconsin is one of the most German states in the nation. You also cited Scandinavians for the same reason. Lotsa them in WI, too!
I didn't want to turn this into a history lesson. I'm aware Germans are in WI. Germans are in a lot of states. Scandinavians arrived in Wisconsin too but so did many other groups. So it wasn't a Scandi-dominant area. Even today MN has twice the number of Scandinavian descendants of WI, with a smaller population. You're free to look up how their histories differ if you want more clarification.
What do all of these places like the Northwest, Upper Midwest, and New England all have in common that they have the most shy/reserved people in America?
What do all of these places like the Northwest, Upper Midwest, and New England all have in common that they have the most shy/reserved people in America?
The Upper Midwest is not introverted. Maybe some places like Madison, Ann Arbor, Minneapolis tend to be more reserved. But for the most part, this is a heavy drinking, loud talking, extroverted place.
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Wait a minute, didn't you just get done posting up-thread that the Midwest has many shy and reserved people in part because many of its original immigrants were German? Wisconsin is one of the most German states in the nation. You also cited Scandinavians for the same reason. Lotsa them in WI, too! 
