Rural-urban differences in personality traits and well-being in adulthood.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

One large focus of personality psychology is to understand the biopsychosocial factors responsible for adult personality development and well-being change. However, little is known about how macro-level contextual factors, such as rurality-urbanicity, are related to personality development and well-being change.

Method

The present study uses data from two large longitudinal studies of U.S. Americans (MIDUS, HRS) to examine whether there are rural-urban differences in levels and changes in the Big Five personality traits and well-being (i.e., psychological well-being, and life satisfaction) in adulthood.

Results

Multilevel models showed that Americans who lived in more rural areas tended to have lower levels of openness, conscientiousness, and psychological w

SUBMITTER: Atherton OE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10390645 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature