Is Country Living Really Ideal? Americans In Rural Areas Are More Anxious, Neurotic, Study Finds

Is living in the countryside really as ideal as it's made out to be? In the U.S., those living in rural areas actually tend to be more anxious and depressed, a study has found.

It's easy to see why living in the countryside seems ideal. Far away from the hustle and bustle of city life, it appears to be a more slow-paced and freer way of living. But how true is this, really?

As part of a study, which was published in the Journal of Personality, a team of researchers had a closer look at the impact of rurality and urbanicity on personality and well-being. The idea was to see whether there were differences in the well-being and the so-called "Big Five" personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, neuroticism) between people living in rural and urban settings.

They looked at data from two large longitudinal studies of U.S. residents. The team found that those living in rural areas were actually more neurotic, anxious and depressed, according to the University of Houston (UH). And compared to the ones living in urban settings, country-dwellers weren't that satisfied with their lives nor had more purpose in life.

Americans living in rural areas also had lower levels of openness, conscientiousness and psychological well-being.

The results shed light on the differences in the psychology of those living in urban and rural settings, a bit surprising as the results may be. This demonstrates, in a way, how people's personalities and well-being may be impacted by where they live.

But apart from that, it also sheds light on another important matter: the differences in people's access to mental health care.

One possible explanation for the results is that it has something to do with access to psychological services, researchers said. A whopping 85% of rural counties have a mental health worker shortage, noted UH. And the closure of rural hospitals doesn't help either.

It's possible that those living in rural areas don't have much access to psychological services — something that should be improved, study author Olivia Atherton said.

"Given the far-reaching consequences of rural health disparities for individuals, families and communities, there is a pressing need to identify the psychological, social and structural mechanisms responsible for disparities and the ways in which to intervene upon those mechanisms to improve the health of rural Americans," Atherton added.