A group of researchers have finally proven what has long accepted as common sense fact: warm weather makes you happier.
The study compared 1.6million people in America and China and found that people living in warmer areas of both country ranked higher in what the researchers considered as the five main personality indicators – agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness to experience.
People who grew up in areas which were accustomed to temperatures of 22C or more had higher scores in the five categories than those who did not.
They questioned people from 59 cities in China and across more than 12,000 ZIP codes in the USA to reach their conclusion.
The study was carried out by Nature Human Behavior.
‘Two large-scale studies from China and the United States found that the ambient temperature during an individual’s youth was related to the key dimensions of personality: individuals who grew up in more clement regions scored higher on both the socialization factor (Alpha) and the personal growth factor (Beta) of personality, as well as on each of the Big-Five personality factors,’ they said.
In their findings, the group did not present a break down of where exactly they polled people in the US.
In China, scores showed slight variations.
‘Because humans constantly experience and react to ambient temperature, we propose that temperature is a crucial environmental factor that is associated with individuals’ habitual behavioural patterns and, therefore, with fundamental dimensions of personality,’ said the researchers as they presented their findings.
One of the potential explanations was that warmer weather encouraged people to go outside and explore their surroundings which boosted social interactions and made them more open to new things – two of the key personality traits.
‘When the ambient temperature is either too hot or too cold, individuals are less likely to go outside (for example, to meet up with friends, or to try new activities)’ was one of the observations,’ they said.
