Could temperatures affect your temper? A new study gives credence to something many people have long suspected -- that the weather where you live can have an impact on your personality.
"Over the past five to 10 years, there's really been a lot of research establishing that there are these geographic differences in personality," said Dr. Sam Gosling, a psychology professor at the University of Texas who worked on the study alongside U.S. and Chinese researchers.
The study looked at data from more than 1.5 million people, and found the closer their hometown was to 72 degrees -- what Gosling said is considered "optimum" for humans -- the more agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable they were. Those from ideal regions also tended to be more outgoing and open to new experiences.
"If you are running a company that requires an important sales force, where it's important to be kind of, outgoing and comfortable and extroverted ... then it would make sense to locate to a place within this temperature range," Gosling said.
Still, he said temperature is one of many factors that may contribute to personality, and additional experiments are needed to establish a definitive link.
For more on the study click here.
