Extroverts, Come to Texas! New Study Maps Moods, State by State

Feeling moody lately? Depressed even?

Maybe it’s your job. Maybe it’s the weather. Or maybe it’s the state you live in.

Acting on over a decade’s worth of surveys, a team of researchers have charted relative moodiness state by state across America.

The study measured personality traits, including the so-called big five personality traits test: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism, or OCEAN. So how does Texas measure?

Some have compared Texas’ culture to that of a different part of the country than its neighbors. The difference is visible in this map from Time Magazine, where Texas’ blue shading signifies “temperamental and uninhibited” traits out of step with the more “friendly and conventional” South.

Here’s how Texas fared. The state is:

• the 23^rd most open state in the country               
• the 19^th most conscientious state in the country                 
• the 16^th most extroverted state in the country            
• the 23^rd most agreeable state in the country               
• the 34^th most neurotic state in the country         

The West Coast was tagged for relaxed and creative natures, the East Coast as temperamental and uninhibited, and the Midwest and South as more friendly and conventional.

These results come from 1.6 million participants across 48 states and D.C., excluding Hawaii and Alaska. The study [PDF] was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology following a 13-year survey. Among the study’s authors: University of Texas professor Samuel D. Gosling and UT alum Peter Jason Rentfrow.

Back over at Time, you can take the test yourself and see which state’s the best match for your own mood.