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People who are friendly and open are typically more concerned about topics such as the environment, scientists have claimed/

And now new research has shown that if enough people in a country have these traits, it can determine the 'personality' of an entire nation.

In turn, this directly impacts on how environmentally-friendly that country is, and the measures it takes to protect and improve the planet.

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Researchers from the University of Toronto compared Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ratings for 46 countries to nation-level personality traits. It discovered that countries which scored high for agreeableness (pictured) had higher EPI ratings, and were therefore more environmentally-sustainable. Switzerland was the most agreeable, open and environmentally-friendly country

'We used to think that personality only mattered for individual outcomes,' said Professor Hirsh from the University of Toronto Mississauga's Institute for Management and Innovation, 'But we're finding that population differences in personality characteristics have many large-scale consequences'.

Professor Hirsh's previous work looked at how personality traits predict an individual's attitudes about the environment.

His latest study takes this research a step further, examining how those traits play out across whole nations.

The study examined nation-level personality traits from a database of 12,156 people in 46 countries.

National personality differences, reflecting average trait profiles of a country's residents, were t5hen used to predict scores on the Environmental Performance Index (EPI).

The EPI, developed at Yale and Columbia Universities, ranks countries across 20 environmental indicators, including CO2 emission levels, use of renewable energy, and air quality.

Higher scores on the EPI, reflecting more environmentally sustainable policies and practices, directly correlated with national levels of two personality traits.

Namely agreeableness, which reflects empathy and compassion, and openness, which suggests 'cognitive flexibility' and the appreciation of objects and ideas. 

The countries featured in the study included Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia ,Ethiopia, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, ,Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and the US.

Switzerland topped both the agreeableness and openness charts, and was also the highest ranking country on the EPI.

At the bottom end of the scale for agreeableness were Morocco and Nigeria, which rank 81st and 134th from the list 178 countries ranked on EPI.

Germany, the UK and Denmark were high scorers on the openness scale and ranked 6th, 12th and 13th respectively for EPI. 

These results highlight the psychological factors that can shape a nation's environmental policies, said Professor Hirsh.

'Not only can a person's attitudes about the environment be predicted from his or her personality traits, but the environmental practices of entire nations can be predicted from the personality profiles of their citizens'.

The Environmental Health Index (EPI), developed at Yale and Columbia Universities, ranks countries across 20 environmental indicators (pictured) including CO2 emission levels, use of renewable energy, and air quality

The study examined nation-level personality traits from a database of 12,156 people in 46 countries. Germany, the UK and Denmark were high scorers on the openness scale and ranked 6th, 12th and 13th on the EPI respectively

'Previous research has linked higher levels of the personality traits agreeableness and openness with greater concern about environmental issues,' explained the researchers.

'While these traits are important predictors of environmental attitudes among individuals, a growing literature has begun examining the broader consequences of population differences in personality characteristics.

'The present study examines whether nationally aggregated personality traits can be significant predictors of a country's environmental sustainability.

'Just as agreeableness and openness predict environmental concern at the individual level, countries with higher population levels of agreeableness and openness had significantly better performance on the sustainability index.

The paper was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

Click a country on the map below to see its EPI results