El Paso Is No. 1 For Learning, Appreciation Of Beauty, Creativity, Says Forbes Magazine
People who live in big cities tend to harbor a suspicion that they’re somehow special, and that their specialness is reflected by where they’ve chosen to live, according to a report in Forbes magazine. A new study suggests they might be right.
Researchers from the University of Michigan wanted to apply science to the stereotypes often given to people from big cities (New Yorkers are rude, Angelinos are flaky, Houstonians are?boot-clacking cowboys?). Cities have been researched in all kinds of ways, but rarely as large collections of people. The study, by Nansook Park and Christopher Peterson, used data collected through an online survey to identify whether personality traits were significantly different across cities and published their findings in the September issue of American Psychologist.
After identifying 24 character strengths, Drs. Park and Peterson grouped traits into to major categories, “strengths of the head” and “strengths of the heart.” They found people with “head” traits, like a love of learning; an appreciation of beauty; creativity and curiosity were most common in El Paso, Texas, Mesa, Arizona and Miami, Fla. while “heart” traits like fairness, forgiveness, gratitude, honesty, humor, kindness and love dominated San Francisco, Calif., Los Angeles, Calif. and Oakland, Calif.
You can take the survey yourself and find out how your personality strengths compare to others in your city, age group, profession and education level at www.authentichappiness.org. Read the full Forbes article here.
Top Ten “Head” Cities
1. El Paso, Texas
2. Mesa, Az.
3. Miami, Fla.
4. Virginia Beach, Va.
5. Fresno, Calif.
6. Jacksonville, Fla.
7. Omaha, Neb.
8. Phoenix, Az.
9. Long Beach, Calif.
10. Nashville, Tenn.
Top Ten “Heart” Cities
1. San Francisco, Calif.
2. Los Angeles, Calif.
3. Oakland, Calif.
4. Albuquerque, N.M.
5. Honolulu, Hawaii
6. Seattle, Wa.
7. Austin, Texas
8. San Diego, Calif.
9. New York, N.Y.
10. El Paso, Texas
