Iowa nice is a cultural label used to describe the

stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

attitudes and behaviors of residents within the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, particularly in terms of the friendly

agreeableness Agreeableness is the trait theory, personality trait of being kind, Sympathy, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, honest, straightforward, and considerate. In personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the Big Five personality traits, five major ...

and emotional trust shown by individuals who are otherwise strangers. While the term's precise meaning is difficult to define, 'Iowa nice' as a concept has been touched upon by both national publications such as ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' and Iowan publications such as '' The Gazette'' and '' The Quad City Times''. It can be analogized to the similar notions of Minnesota nice and

Southern hospitality Southern hospitality is a phrase used in American English to describe a cultural stereotype of the Southern United States, with residents perceived to show kindness, warmth, and welcoming of visitors to their homes, or to the South in general. O ...

Definition

While without a strict definition, ''Iowa nice'' is seen to generally refer to helpful actions such as pulling over to a roadside to help a stranger change a

tire A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineeri ...

. The term is also applied to a general atmosphere of social

toleration Toleration is when one allows or permits an action, idea, object, or person that they dislike or disagree with. Political scientist Andrew R. Murphy explains that "We can improve our understanding by defining 'toleration' as a set of social or ...

in which the

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

and

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

more accepted in other places of the U.S. is absent or downplayed, a specific example being how the Des Moines Human Rights Commission came into being in 1951 compared to the national agencies promoted over a decade later by

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

and created through the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. Social commentators such as Eric Scott of ''

'' have stated that the concept's limits deserve more attention even as its positive sides remain strong. He wrote in 2017 that Iowa nice has "led to complacency and an expectation that issues needing to be addressed will be handled by our local leaders." Writing for '' The Gazette'', a publication based out of

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

, Rev. Mel Schlachter of

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

has argued that while "conflict avoidance can be a downside" of the state ethos and needed confrontations can get put aside, the concept still results in an atmosphere of "hospitality and cordiality all the way" through society that enhances the

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

Analysis

In statistical terms, a national study published in the

scholarly journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the dissemination, scr ...

Perspectives on Psychological Science ''Perspectives on Psychological Science'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal of psychology. The journal was established in 2006 and the founding editor was Ed Diener (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). It is currently published ...

'' by researchers Peter Rentfrow, Samuel Gosling, and Jeff Potter in 2008 analyzed personality traits of individuals in different parts of the U.S. The scholars found that Iowans scored as the fifteenth most agreeable and fifteenth most

extraverted Extraversion and introversion are a central trait theory, trait dimension in human personality psychology, personality theory. The terms were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung, though both the popular understanding and current psychologic ...

Americans compared to those of the other 49 states.

Usage

During the 2018 student walk-outs and social protests over gun violence, multiple students in the

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

area demonstrated using slogans that they were "done being Iowa nice."

Related concepts

It can be analogized to the similar notions of Minnesota nice and

. Iowa's neighboring state of

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

adopted "Nebraska nice" as a tourism slogan in 2018, after several decades of its use in reference to Nebraska's stadium having a reputation as having the "nicest fans in college football." The concept of a Seattle Freeze can function as a kind of

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''even'' entails that it is not ''odd''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members i ...

. Friday, September 4, 2020

References

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External links