Effect of Roman Occupation on Personality Traits, Well-Being and Life Expectancy
Custom Field Value: January 20, 2025
My paper together with Martin Obschonka, Fabian Wahl, Michael Wyrwich, Peter Jason Rentfrow, Jeff Potter and Samuel D. Gosling about the effects of Roman occupation aboiut 2 000 years ago on today’s population will be published in Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology. The paper is titled „Roma Eterna? Roman Rule Explains Regional Well-Being Divides in Germany“ and is already available under https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2025.100214.
Abstract: In light of persisting regional inequalities in adaptive outcomes such as health and well-being, and related personality traits, psychological research has begun to embrace a historical perspective to understand the deeper roots of these regional patterns and the factors driving their persistence. Here we go one step further by directly examining the as-yet overlooked role of ancient cultures and the possibility that they had an enduring impact on the macro-psychological character of regions. Exploiting a massive civilization divide that ran through Germany around 2,000 years ago – the Roman Limes protection wall—we compare present-day German regions that were occupied and fundamentally advanced by Roman culture with German regions that remained part of the relatively undeveloped territory. Even when controlling for more recent historical influences and influential borders within Germany, we find evidence that the regions once developed by Roman civilization show more-adaptive personality patterns and related positive health and psychological well-being outcomes today than do other regions. Results from a spatial regression discontinuity design indicate a treatment effect of the Roman border on present-day regional variation in adaptive outcomes. Additional analyses suggest it was particularly the Roman investments in advanced economic institutions (e.g., trade infrastructure), with their long-reaching economic and macro-psychological path dependencies, that were instrumental in creating this long-term Roman effect. Together, the results illustrate how ancient cultures can imprint a macro-psychological legacy by setting in motion cumulative mechanisms that continue to contribute to present-day regional inequalities.