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Physical topography is associated with human personality

Author

Listed:
  • Friedrich M. Götz

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Stefan Stieger

    (Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences)

  • Samuel D. Gosling

    (University of Texas at Austin
    University of Melbourne)

  • Jeff Potter

    (Atof Inc.)

  • Peter J. Rentfrow

    (University of Cambridge)

Abstract

Regional differences in personality are associated with a range of consequential outcomes. But which factors are responsible for these differences? Frontier settlement theory suggests that physical topography is a crucial factor shaping the psychological landscape of regions. Hence, we investigated whether topography is associated with regional variation in personality across the United States (n = 3,387,014). Consistent with frontier settlement theory, results from multilevel modelling revealed that mountainous areas were lower on agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism and conscientiousness but higher on openness to experience. Conditional random forest algorithms confirmed mountainousness as a meaningful predictor of personality when tested against a conservative set of controls. East–west comparisons highlighted potential differences between ecological (driven by physical features) and sociocultural (driven by social norms) effects of mountainous terrain.

Suggested Citation

  • Friedrich M. Götz & Stefan Stieger & Samuel D. Gosling & Jeff Potter & Peter J. Rentfrow, 2020. "Physical topography is associated with human personality," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(11), pages 1135-1144, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:4:y:2020:i:11:d:10.1038_s41562-020-0930-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-0930-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Obschonka, Martin & Tavassoli, Sam & Rentfrow, P. Jason & Potter, Jeff & Gosling, Samuel D., 2023. "Innovation and inter-city knowledge spillovers: Social, geographical, and technological connectedness and psychological openness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    2. Christian T. Elbæk & Panagiotis Mitkidis & Lene Aarøe & Tobias Otterbring, 2023. "Subjective socioeconomic status and income inequality are associated with self-reported morality across 67 countries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Benito Arruñada & Lucas López-Manuel, 2024. "The Medieval Church and the Foundations of Impersonal Exchange," Working Papers 1447, Barcelona School of Economics.
    4. Kristan Cockerill & Pierre Glynn & Estefania Santamaria Cerrutti & John C. Little, 2024. "Knowledge sources, narratives, and living in social-ecological systems," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 29(6), pages 1-23, August.
    5. Jina Suh & Eric Horvitz & Ryen W. White & Tim Althoff, 2022. "Disparate impacts on online information access during the Covid-19 pandemic," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.

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