Welcome, you’re among friends in Scotland...
Psychologists identify nice Scots, irritable Cockneys and anxious Welsh
IT’S a reputation most Scots would agree with, and now it’s official – we are the friendliest people in the UK.
A study of more than 400,000 Britons has found wide personality difference between regions.
The results showed that Scots are the friendliest, Welsh the shyest and Londoners the least welcoming.
This is according to experts at Cambridge University, who have marked out a personality map of the whole of Britain.
The profile revealed that inhabitants of the capital are the least welcoming of all.
The Welsh also fare badly, with the researchers declaring them to be exceptionally shy and neurotic.
The Scots, however, can hold their heads high, as they are the friendliest and most emotionally stable people in Britain.
To find out what where we live says about us, psychologists asked almost 400,000 Britons a series of questions designed to
‘More than just
a bit of fun’
assess five key personality traits. They then looked to see how common each of the five characteristics – agreeableness, extroversion, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism – was in each of the 380 council areas in England, Scotland and Wales.
The result was a fascinating, and at times controversial, snapshot of the psychology of Britain.
The Scots scored highest in agreeableness. The first of the five traits polled, it covers friendliness, trust, cooperation and concern about others.
People in Devon, Somerset, East Anglia and Yorkshire are also highly agreeable sorts.
And at the other end of the scale are the residents of London, who were found to be the least friendly of all.
Rather than being warm and welcoming, they are likely to be uncooperative, quarrelsome and irritable, the journal PLOS ONE reports.
But those who lived in the capital, however, scored highly on extroversion, as did the people of Manchester.
In contrast, those living in the East Midlands, Wales, Humber- side, the north of England, the east of Scotland and Wales were among the most quiet and reserved.
City-dwellers also did well on the third trait, openness. This is a measure of curiosity, imagination and intellect, and was particularly high in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton, Bristol, Manchester and Glasgow.
Residents of some parts of Wales were also deemed creative and curious.
Inhabitants of the East Midlands and the east of England were the least open – leading to t hem bei ng labelled ‘conventional, down to earth and traditional’. But people in the Midlands were among the most conscientious, suggesting that, like residents of the Highlands, they are dependable, reliable types.
Londoners and the Welsh fared badly once more, with the survey finding them to be among the most slapdash and unreliable.
The Welsh’s answers also led to them being branded the least emotionally stable and the most anxious, depressed and temperamental.
The Scots emerged at the other end of the scale, as the least neurotic and the most calm and contented. Researcher Jason Rentfrow said some of the results can be explained by people moving to areas that better suit their personality.
The local economy and even the weather may have an impact – with lots of rainy days putting a dampener on happiness.
But with personality traits linked to various illnesses, as well as rates of crime and even the way people vote, the results are more than just a bit of fun.
Dr Rentfrow said: ‘Geographical differences are associated with a range of economic, health and social outcomes – and hence how i mportant resources are allocated.’