Creative or Neurotic: What's Your State's Personality?

Researchers have created a map of regional personalities in the United States, revealing three new "regions," consisting of the friendly and conventional South and Midwest, the creative and relaxed East and West Coasts, and the temperamental, uninhibited Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

The study, published online Oct. 14 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, relies on the Big Five personality traits: openness to experience, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism.

Here's a look at the breakdown by state with their T scores on each personality trait. A T score is a standardized way of measuring a trait; in this case, 50 represents the "average" level of any given trait. A score higher than 50 represents an above-average level of that trait, and a score lower indicates a lower-than-average level.

*(E – Extroversion, A – Agreeableness, C – Conscientiousness, N – Neuroticism, O – Openness)

Swipe to scroll horizontally

STATE	*E	A	C	N	O
Alabama	55.5	52.7	55.5	48.7	42.7
Arizona	50.6	46.6	58.4	38.1	54.7
Arkansas	49.9	52.7	41.0	56.2	40.3
California	51.4	49.0	43.2	39.1	65.0
Colorado	45.3	47.5	58.8	34.3	57.9
Connecticut	57.6	38.6	34.2	53.4	53.9
Delaware	47.0	38.8	36.5	62.4	42.7
District of Columbia	64.8	21.4	44.1	41.6	77.5
Florida	60.9	50.7	62.7	40.8	61.0
Georgia	63.2	60.0	68.8	38.0	56.9
Idaho	40.7	52.9	44.5	44.2	44.7
Illinois	62.5	48.3	50.9	51.2	55.2
Indiana	48.9	50.2	56.2	59.3	44.9
Iowa	62.8	56.6	52.2	49.1	33.7
Kansas	45.5	48.9	50.8	49.0	40.1
Kentucky	53.4	48.1	51.3	62.5	43.0
Louisiana	52.2	49.7	45.0	60.4	53.7
Maine	44.2	32.8	24.0	71.0	50.8
Maryland	35.2	37.3	37.5	49.4	56.6
Massachusetts	44.4	40.7	32.2	63.8	59.6
Michigan	55.2	54.7	53.0	48.6	43.4
Minnesota	52.9	61.6	52.5	43.4	38.5
Mississippi	56.8	63.3	59.7	52.0	46.2
Missouri	62.9	59.3	60.8	48.3	45.7
Montana	33.1	52.3	56.1	43.0	55.0
Nebraska	60.0	62.9	64.3	41.6	34.3
Nevada	46.4	31.8	55.8	44.0	61.3
New Hampshire	40.2	53.5	38.0	61.8	48.7
New Jersey	59.9	44.6	40.8	56.4	57.6
New Mexico	32.4	45.4	58.5	51.6	62.0
New York	47.0	29.8	37.7	62.7	64.5
N. Carolina	51.0	63.6	68.4	44.8	49.6
N. Dakota	52.4	52.4	51.4	49.6	21.8
Ohio	54.6	45.9	46.5	58.5	46.0
Oklahoma	39.7	54.3	54.7	52.1	42.2
Oregon	30.9	59.1	45.8	39.5	58.8
Pennsylvania	54.6	42.8	52.4	61.4	49.6
Rhode Island	43.3	35.2	48.5	61.9	59.4
S. Carolina	60.0	55.4	69.6	45.7	55.3
S. Dakota	58.7	56.7	55.8	36.1	41.9
Tennessee	51.3	66.6	62.0	49.0	50.1
Texas	55.2	52.3	54.4	44.3	52.7
Utah	55.8	69.4	54.5	30.4	47.7
Vermont	26.5	60.0	38.2	55.8	54.2
Virginia	48.5	47.4	45.3	44.7	57.1
Washington	30.6	55.8	45.0	36.9	56.6
W. Virginia	38.5	51.8	42.6	79.2	36.8
Wisconsin	69.8	57.8	47.6	48.6	35.7
Wyoming	46.0	40.7	42.4	46.1	42.4

Read the full story about the new U.S. personality map.

Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+.

For the science geek in everyone, Live Science offers a fascinating window into the natural and technological world, delivering comprehensive and compelling news and analysis on everything from dinosaur discoveries, archaeological finds and amazing animals to health, innovation and wearable technology. We aim to empower and inspire our readers with the tools needed to understand the world and appreciate its everyday awe.