By Kathleen Berger, Executive Producer for Science and Technology

There’s something very special and peaceful about being so close to nature. After the hustle and bustle of city life, some people may dream of country living. It may seem ideal.

“Access to nature, access to natural resources. Oftentimes there are really close-knit communities and families within those,” said Emily Willroth, PhD, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Willroth co-authored a study focused on psychological differences between people living in rural areas compared to people living in big cities.

“Rural areas tend to have less access to high quality health care and mental health services,” she said. “As well as limited access to high quality education and cultural resources.”

The research team wanted to know if challenges from the lack of resources shape the personalities and psychological well-being of people living in rural areas. The team used data analysis that combined two nationwide surveys involving 27,000 people.

“Both of these follow thousands of adults over the course of 10 to 20 years,” Willroth explained. “And mapped that on to these rural, urban codes.”

People who lived in more rural areas tended to score higher in levels of neuroticism, a personality trait that is marked by increased anxiety and depression.

“Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions like depression and anxiety,” Willroth said. “We also found that people living in rural areas tended to be lower in personality traits called conscientiousness and openness to experiences. Conscientiousness is really tapping into the degree to which someone is really organized, productive, responsible. And that tends to be highly correlated with things like educational attainment and access to socio-economic resources. And so I think one possibility that we’re seeing there is that the limited access that people in rural areas tend to have to these educational resources, cultural resources, and mental health care might be leading to those differences in personality that we see.”

The surveys found that people in rural areas scored lower in overall psychological well-being, a measure that includes sense of purpose, self-acceptance and positive relationships with others, among other signs of good mental health. Willroth said up to 85% of rural communities have a shortage of mental health professionals, so she wants to raise awareness to the findings of the study for people in big cities and small towns. After all, farmers and ranchers are major contributors to society.

“Agricultural innovations and advancements in terms of their contributions to food production. It can be a relatively isolating profession,” said Willroth. “For example, the lead author on this study, Dr. Olivia Atherton, had the opportunity to go to a rural mental health summit recently. And one thing that she learned is that farmers and ranchers often experience mental health challenges as a result of that isolation.”

Willroth said rural living isn’t to blame, it’s the lack of resources. She said people can thrive anywhere with the right support. Willroth hopes the study will get people talking and helping one another.

“The ways that we can both bring more services and resources to rural communities, is by increasing conversations, having more conversations about health and about mental health and reducing stigma around those conversations,” she said. “So that as we bring services to these areas, people are utilizing those services and recognizing the benefits of either mental health care or preventative health services, and more generally – positive health behaviors.”