Tuesday, August 26, 2008
What do you MEAN, we’re neurotic?!?
by Teresa
In the latest issue of Newsweek, science columnist Sharon Begley has a piece entitled, “The Geography of Personality.“
In it, she discusses studies that looked at some general personality types, and the regions in which those types tend to gather. In other words, what kind of person lives in Alaska? Or in Wisconsin? Or Utah?
And wouldn’t you know it: our tiny little Ocean State merits a mention.
So, what type of people are we? What are Rhode Islanders like?
Quoting now: “...West Virginians and Rhode Islanders rank highest on neuroticism.“
The article got me thinking about what, exactly, “neurotic” means. I found that thinking about the word brought me a mental picture of Woody Allen, and a vague idea of a person who’s nervous, or tense. But I couldn’t really settle on a precise definition for the term, so I did what most of you would probably do: I Googled it.
Here are some of the definitions I found:
From Wikipedia: “NEUROTICISM is a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology… defined as an enduring tendency to experience negative emotional states. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anxiety, anger, guilt, and clinical depression.“
From Merriam-Webster: “NEUROSIS: : a mental and emotional disorder that affects only part of the personality, is accompanied by a less distorted perception of reality than in a psychosis, does not result in disturbance of the use of language, and is accompanied by various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances (as visceral symptoms, anxieties, or phobias).“
From The Free Dictionary: “NEUROTICISM- a mental or personality disturbance not attributable to any known neurological or organic dysfunction.“
Hmm. Those definitions seem a bit more ominous, and a little less “Woody Allen,“ don’t they?
Then, Google found an article from the The Boston Globe, from earlier this year, which touches on the same theme.
This article was accompanied by five helpful and interesting maps!
It’s all fun reading, actually, but for what my two cents are worth here… I’ve lived in five different states—in all, nine different cities or towns, although it bears mentioning that four of those were in Rhode Island. And I really can’t tell you whether more neurotic people live here, or not. I don’t think so. I’ve found people to be much the same in most places I’ve lived; the accents changed, but personality types? I don’t know if I am buying the theory. As a professor of mine used to tell me, there are heroes and scoundrels alike, in every group. And there’s no use trying to force everyone into one category or the other. I believe people are far too complicated to fit into such neat and tidy boxes; complex individuals can’t be explained by such basic labels.
Then again, maybe I just don’t like being called “neurotic.“
