This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Why do some cities embrace new technologies and business models while others are slower to take them up? Economic conditions, infrastructure and access to technology clearly matter.
But a new study from the University of Amsterdam and the University of St Gallen suggests there is another factor that has received much less attention: the psychological openness of the local population. Regions where people are more open to new experiences and unfamiliar ideas are more likely to be early adopters of radical innovations, the study says. The researchers analyzed personality data from more than 3.2 million Americans across 349 metropolitan regions and compared it with the early spread of three digital platforms: Airbnb, Uber and Flickr.
Across all three, regions with more psychologically open populations showed stronger early adoption, even after the researchers accounted for economic, demographic, infrastructural, social and geographical differences. The findings are published in the journal Research Policy. Psychological openness is one of the established Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism).
It includes curiosity, receptiveness to new ideas and experiences, and a willingness to engage with unfamiliar or unconventional things. The researchers describe regional psychological openness as a kind of 'invisible social infrastructure': something that cannot be seen in the way that roads, universities or broadband networks can, but which may nevertheless influence how readily people engage with something new. "What stood out was the consistency of the pattern," says professor Tobias Ebert of the University of St Gallen.
"Psychological openness was the only factor reliably associated with adoption across all of the three innovations we studied." The differences between regions were substantial. The proportion of people classified as highly open ranged from around 21% to 48% across the metropolitan areas studied. Early adoption also varied sharply: regions such as San Francisco, Portland and Austin repeatedly appeared among the strongest adopters, while El Paso, Flint and Jackson were among the lowest.
The finding may be particularly relevant during the uncertain early stages of an innovation. When Airbnb launched, people had to be willing to let strangers stay in their homes. Uber required people to offer rides in their own cars.
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