Through Mike's great blog that is always filled with useful links I found the following map that shows how many people own a passport in each state of this country:
The article that accompanies this map explains that
States with more passport holders are also happier. There is a significant correlation (.55) between happiness (measured via Gallup surveys) and a state’s percentage of passport holders. Yet again, that correlation holds when we control for income.I wonder if we can use this data in the promotion of our university's Study Abroad program.
It makes absolute sense that people who have traveled to other countries would be happier. After interacting with people from other cultures, seeing how they live and becoming friendly with them, travelers are less likely to buy into anxiety-producing mythology of besieged Americans who are envied and hated by everybody else on the planet.
4 comments:
I'm originally from Hawaii, and received my first passport when I was 13. Many kids in my class were far ahead of me in that regard, because they had relatives back in Japan, the Philippines, Tonga, Samoa, and other countries, so a passport was necessary for family reunions. I think it's no coincidence that states with high rates of immigration would have higher rates of passport holders.
My latest passport mainly has stamps from Japan and Canada in it. I intend to fill every page with other countries by the time I turn 25, when it expires. :)
This sounds like a fantastic plan! I wish many people had this kind of dreams.
That's Alaska right there under California, right?
I misread this as meaning that the states owned the passports in certain states. This seemed to be true in Poland while I was there.
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