Distressed by stress test
An expert disputes a study that says life is laid-back in Hawaii
A study reporting Hawaii's people are more "laid-back" and less stressed than those of many other states does not reflect the reality of day-to-day life here, says a University of Hawaii-Manoa professor of psychiatry.
MEASURES OF STRESS
A University of Cambridge personality study was structured to find out whether certain personality types are reflected in the social and cultural life of each state. The research team divided personality types into five broad categories:
» 1. Extroversion (sociable, energetic, enthusiastic)
» 2. Agreeableness (warm, friendly, compassionate)
» 3. Conscientiousness (dutiful, responsible, self-disciplined)
» 4. Neuroticism (anxious, stressful, impulsive)
» 5. Openness (curious, intellectual, creative)
Participants in the online test were asked to read 44 short statements assessing their personality traits.
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"People in general are friendly and laid-back," said Dr. John Huh, medical director of Kaheiheimalie-Queens Counseling Services. "In that sense they are able to manage stress and deal with stress in healthy ways, but there is still a tremendous amount of stressful things happening here."
Many people work two or three jobs to pay high living costs, he said. "There are significant problems with depression and suicide, so we know a lot of people are in significant stress."
Hawaii was identified as one of the least "neurotic" states in a University of Cambridge personality study, suggesting islanders are "least likely to feel constrained by traditional ideas of duty or responsibility."
The findings resulted from an online test taken by 619,397 participants - including 2,940 from Hawaii - over six years. Jason Rentfrow of Louisiana, a University of Cambridge lecturer in social and political sciences, led the analysis.
His team created a "personality map" of the United States showing different types of people are more likely to live in different parts of the country. For example, they said, people in New York state tend to be high-strung and creative, while North Dakotans are often more sociable and affable than most Americans.
The team noted "striking" geographical trends, with a national "stress belt" dividing "the more anxious and impulsive eastern USA from the comparatively relaxed West." They also found strong links between personality traits and social phenomena such as crime and life expectancy rates.
"Obviously, it's not as simple as saying that a person is guaranteed to be more anxious if they come from West Virginia or more religious because they happen to live in New Mexico," Rentfrow said in a news release. "But we did find pretty clear signs that there are meaningful differences in the personalities of people living in different areas of the United States."
Hawaii was one of the lowest-ranking states for openness (46) and conscientiousness (49). It had a ranking of 40 for neuroticism, 39 for extroversion and 24 for agreeableness.
Huh said the way the researchers defined things is not clear. "A lot of things don't intuitively fit. I wonder about the method of study and how they sampled people."
Since it was Internet-based, he said, the researchers "didn't capture homeless families or those working two jobs who were too busy to respond to surveys or were sitting in traffic too long.
"Hawaii is very diverse, multiethnic and multiracial, with issues of literacy," Huh pointed out. "Who was able to read the surveys? Are they included in the study?"
His own view might be skewed, Huh noted, since he is in a mental health setting and most people he sees have some stress-related issue. But people he talks to socially also "have busy and stressful lives," he said.
He said the study "created a stir" in his office because people working there feel Hawaii "isn't really laid-back anymore. Maybe in a lot of ways it has taken on the busy pace of the most urban settings.
"There is a huge problem with methamphetamine. People are using it for a reason. And there are very high rates of problems with drugs and alcohol in adolescents.
"I think Hawaii is sort of in a unique position," Huh added. "It wants to promote a laid-back lifestyle; it helps with tourism. But in day-to-day lives, in reality, it is very stressed."