Do You Prefer Mountains Or Beaches? Study Says It Reveals Your Personality

Think about your last few holiday destinations. Were they spent loading the car with beach towels, umbrellas, and sandcastle tools? Or did you load in the books, hiking boots, and shawls for the chilly mountain nights?

Studies report that our holiday destinations can assimilate with our personality traits and happiness. There are certain aspects of beach life and certain aspects of mountain life that reflect parts of our core personalities. So the question remains: are you a living-amongst-the-trees person or someone who prefers to frolic in the waves? In other words, do you prefer the mountains or the beach?

Holiday Personality Types

Studies have shown that those who are more introverted are reportedly more inclined to head to the mountains and retreat into the trees. Those with extroverted personalities are more inclined to enjoy the social aspects and the interactive spaces of beach life. When it comes to geography, our personalities really do come into play.

The study into personality types for specific destinations is called the “person-environment fit.” The association of personality types to certain places is determined by character traits. Introverts prefer secluded places where interaction with others is limited — quiet places. Whereas extroverts will enjoy the beach because they are exposed to people, they are exposed to action and interaction, and they are on display to others, which suits their nature. Should the roles be reversed, both parties would experience discomfort in environments that are not preferable. Other factors, such as age, gender, and race held no significance when determining a mountain dweller or a beach dweller. It was purely down to the personality difference of havingan introverted personality type or an extroverted personality type.

Beach vs Mountain

These two destination types have similar traits to the assigned character. For example, the mountains are secluded, private places where you may be prone to deep thought. They often facilitate isolation or profound ideas. Beach life, on the other hand, promotes noise, attention, fun, interaction. A beach ismore of a social dwelling where people like to hang out, meet, and be aware of one another.

The mountains seem to be the choice for people who wish to make a solo journey, whereas the beach mightbe the best vacation choice if it’s a time for hanging or holidaying with friends. So, there is also the aspect of why you are going to either of these places to begin with, as opposed to just choosing depending on your character.

What Comes First: the Character or the Destination?

So, does the introvert seek out the solitude, do they search for the mountains? Or do the mountains call for the introvert? And do extroverts need to be constantly seen by others and parade around inthe beach’s social scene, or does the beach call to the extroverts, to make it the fun-loving place that it is?

Most intriguing was that further studies showed whether or not certain places would geographically nurture or exacerbate personality types. Research identified that open spaces for an extrovert will encourage their behavior. Studies were conducted to try and ascertain piques in our personality types. When monitoring people in open areas compared to people in quiet, leafy retreats, what they instead found was that, although there were minimal changes in the levels of extroversion or introversion, the extroverts were found to have high levels of happiness in the open spaces and the introverts had high levels of happiness after being in the quieter spaces where they could retreat.

In the end, what we discover is that the settings we surround ourselves with can truly match and be at peace with the our internal scenery.