Industrial Revolution: damaging psychological ’imprint’ persists in today’s populations

Study finds people in areas historically reliant on coal-based industries have more 'negative' personality traits. Psychologists suggest this cognitive die may well have been cast at the dawn of the industrial age. The Industrial Revolution has a hidden psychological heritage, one that is imprinted on today's psychological make-up of the regions of England and Wales - Jason Rentfrow People living in the former industrial heartlands of England and Wales are more disposed to negative emotions such as anxiety and depressive moods, more impulsive and more likely to struggle with planning and self-motivation, according to a new study of almost 400,000 personality tests. The findings show that, generations after the white heat of Industrial Revolution and decades on from the decline of deep coal mining, the populations of areas where coal-based industries dominated in the 19th century retain a "psychological adversity". Researchers suggest this is the inherited product of selective migrations during mass industrialisation compounded by the social effects of severe work and living conditions. They argue that the damaging cognitive legacy of coal is "reinforced and amplified" by the more obvious economic consequences of high unemployment we see today. The study also found significantly lower life satisfaction in these areas.