Canada.com: Canadians not so different from Americans

[Snakebyte]

http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=02479c28-0097-402c-ada7-e35623a8121a

Canadian, eh? Think again
Personality survey says we're not so different than Americans

Sheryl Ubelacker
Canadian Press

Friday, October 07, 2005

TORONTO -- Ask any Canadian to define the typical Canuck and among the descriptions proffered is sure to be: "We're not like Americans."

After all, Americans are brash, arrogant and aggressive. We Canadians, on the other hand, are polite, modest and somewhat introverted.

We're as different from our neighbours to the south as, well, beavers are from bald eagles.

Aren't we?

Not according to a study of national personalities, which found that this time-honoured perception of our oh-so-unique Canadian psyche -- and other cultures' stereotypes of themselves -- are in fact just so much hooey.

"These stereotypes are as Canadians see themselves and Americans as they see themselves," said Robert McCrae of the U.S. National Institute on Aging, a principal investigator of the study on national personalities around the world.

"Canadians think they're extremely agreeable; the Americans think they're very disagreeable," he said. "Canadians believe that they're very calm and not irritable, very even-tempered, whereas Americans think they're more anxious and hostile.

"The fact is Canadians and Americans have almost identical average personality traits."

In a measure of five main areas of personality, covering a total of 30 traits, Canadians and their U.S. cousins fell roughly in the middle. Not only that, but they weren't all that different from other cultures around the globe, researchers found.

The study, published in the latest issue of Science, collected data through personality questionnaires given to thousands of people living in 49 countries.

Over and over, stereotypes about different nationalities emerged, but all were left wanting.

"These are very interesting sociological phenomena," McCrae said. "They get made into myths and they turn up in literature and in songs and in jokes and kind of have a life of their own."

Take the Brits, for example, whose national character is typically viewed as reserved and stalwart.

"The English showed the worst agreement in the entire set between the stereotype and the measured personality," said McCrae. "The stereotype of the English is that they're very reserved, whereas as in fact English are extroverts.

"And English think that they're relatively conventional and closed, but compared to most people in the world, they're pretty open to experience."

Germany was one example in which at least part of the stereotype matched reality, he said. "Germans think that they're conscientious and industrious and they measured out as conscientious and industrious."

Argentines believe they're a nation of disagreeable folk, and that reputation is pervasive throughout Latin America. But Argentines scored as average on the agreeableness scale.

McCrae noted that one Canadian researcher, upon seeing the results, said: " `Well, the Canadians are not going to like this story, because they really want to believe that they are much nicer than Americans.'

"I think that shows that at least one of the functions that stereotypes serve is to assert a national identity. We want to distinguish ourselves from Americans, so we'll invent some kind of difference and exaggerate it, and in this case it has to do with things like agreeableness," he said of the so-called Canadian identity.

Paul Trapnell, a professor of psychology at the University of Winnipeg, agreed that claiming particular national character traits can support certain motives: differentiating a population from other cultures and building its self-esteem.

"So we'll try to see ourselves as different from Americans and the differences we'll latch onto are the differences that also serve our desire to think good about ourselves," said Trapnell, one of three Canadian researchers who contributed data to the study.

What he found interesting was how homogenous the notion of the "typical Canuck" was across the country.

"The views that persons in Vancouver have about Canadians are very similar to the views that Nova Scotians have about Canadians," Trapnell said. "So we do possess a somewhat loosely organized but shared perception of what our national character is like, even though that shared perception doesn't turn out to be a real one."

What another country does on the world stage or on home soil may also contribute to national stereotypes, suggested psychologist Delroy Paulhus of the University of British Columbia, who also took part in the study.

"Canadians confuse typical Americans with their country's foreign policy, which seems belligerent," Paulhus said by e-mail. "Or Canadians extrapolate the higher rate of crime in the U.S. to infer typical character."

Whatever the reasons, typecasting an entire people can be dangerous, the authors say, leading to prejudice, discrimination and persecution.

"Clearly it tells us that we need to be very cautious about making generalizations about groups of people, any kind of groups of people," McCrae said. "Because often those generalizations are unfounded.

"Instead, what we have to do is remind ourselves that we're dealing with individuals, and regardless of what their nationality or their age or their gender, we should look at their personality as it is in themselves."

 

[xLostx]

that website is wrong. I OWN

 

[Snakebyte]

blame canada.com

I am so witty.

I should probably mention that I have been to various parts of Canada several times, and I don't have any problem with Canadians... and I'm not trying to start a country vs country debate here.

 

[Fliko]

What?
Noooooooooooooooooooooo!

The website is very wrong.
We Canucks are very agreeable.
EDIT: The writer just hates Canadians.

 

[Snakebyte]

EDIT: The writer just hates Canadians.

Yep. The writer for the Canadian Press who wrote that article hates Canadians. That must be it.

 

[Tr0n]

Stern will be disappointed.

 

[gh0st]

canada still sucks hard

 

[Tr0n]

Which explains why vancouver is the best place to live.

 

[CptStern]

meh, besides lax gun laws, right wing extremists and an overwhelming desire to kill every last thing on earth we're pretty much the same :E

 

[cschaef13]

Canadians see themselves as being superior to americans. All the kids in my class seem to believe that Canadians are ignorant people, that do not know anything about Canada. I saw some video that I believe was extremely biased towards Canadians, and well it was what Americans knew about Canadians. The main people picked sounded like southerners. They do not know nearly as much as people in the top part of America would know. All I can say is that if we are so smart and they are so dumb why is America the economic leader of the world? Why do many smart witty products, gadgets whatever come from america. I have no idea. But if you ask me Canadians are no better than Americans. I am born Canadian but I am just stating my opinion. I do not believe that Canadians should treat Americans as gun loving nuts that know nothing about Canada, and are ****ing stupid. Well if you ask me that is what these people in Canada are thinking. From just about every opinion I have heard in my classes at school I get to hear..."They are so dumb" "They know nothing about Canada", etc etc. All I know is that I have met smart and dumb americans and canadians. In my mind they are at a balance and in other peoples minds...well I have no idea about them. But many of them are smart and many canadians are smart. Canadians and Americans really are not different. All we are is seperated by a line, if I moved to America I would be no different then I am now. If I lived in US and moved to Canada I very well may not change. But Americans and Canadians are both the same kinda person, we believe one country is stupid because of stereotypes we hear. The favorite for Canada would probably be "eh" and Americans..well I really do not know about the american stereotypes. But all I can say is this. If you ask me Americans and Canadians are no different from eachother.

 

[Tr0n]

Don't generalize bitch. I'm southern and I probally know more things then most yankees. Of course I'm not saying all...I just know more then the average american.

So yea...if you actually asked most southerners around where I live about poltics and all that shit. they would say they really don't give a damn. We're just laid back like that.

 

[KoreBolteR]

its like another stereotypical issue. people think we still wear bowler hats and worship the queen, eat tea and crumpets and all have the posh queen accent, LOLOL!!!!!!

 

[63]

America is the economic leader of the world?

I went to the states yesterday, was scary

 

[Raziaar]

meh, besides lax gun laws, right wing extremists and an overwhelming desire to kill every last thing on earth we're pretty much the same :E

Left wing extremists are just as bad as right wing. Hope you dont have many of those, either!

 

[Tr0n]

Extremeism in any form is bad and so is most things with "ism" at the end.

 

[15357]

Extremeism in any form is bad and so is most things with "ism" at the end.

What about Tr0nism?

 

[Snakebyte]

What about Tr0nism?

That's the worst.

 

[Tr0n]

Well except Tr0nism.

 

[Insano]

Yeah, but that's for n00bs.

 

[Raziaar]

Well except Tr0nism.

Tr0nism consists of millions of organisms, the WORST kind of ism.

 

[Tr0n]

D:

6char

 

[Razor]

The English are extroverts?

Well only during our weekly orgies anyway with the neighbours, but then, isn't that normal?