Toward a Geography of Personality Traits

It has long been believed that personality traits vary by geographicallocation, but few studies have examined the worldwide distribution of personality profiles. Using the five-factor model of personality—a comprehensive and apparently universal trait structure—we conducted secondary analyses of data from 36 cultures. Distance from the equator and mean temperature were not meaningfully related to personality factors. However, cluster analysis showed that geographically proximatecultures often have similar profiles, and multidimensional scaling showed a clear contrast of European and American cultures with Asian and African cultures. The former were higher in extraversion and openness to experience and lower in…