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ObjectivePrevious research has found that southern state legislators demonstrate more progressive ambition than their nonsouthern counterparts. This presents an interesting puzzle with regard to why this difference exists. In this article, we apply the Five‐Factor Model (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion) to investigate whether regional personality differences exist that can help explain why southern legislators exhibit greater levels of progressive ambition than nonsouthern legislators.MethodsData from a national survey of state legislator are analyzed using ordinal regression.ResultsOur findings show that higher levels of extraversion and openness among the legislators are directly related to greater levels of political ambition. More specifically, southern legislators appear to possess disproportionately higher levels of extraversion and openness than their nonsouthern counterparts. This helps explain the greater levels of progressive ambition they express.ConclusionsIn addition to providing insight into progressive ambition, the results reinforce the notion of southern distinctiveness among state legislatures.

A variety of studies have examined the manner in which motivation effects the decisions made, and the activities engaged in, by politicians. However, one area that seems to have been ignored has been whether there are regional differences among state legislators as it relates to ambition and what, if any, effect it has on the preferences of Southern and non-Southern legislators. Utilizing data from a survey administered to state legislators from all 50 states, we are able to demonstrate that legislators from Southern states exhibit significantly higher levels of progressive ambition than those from non-Southern states, and that this increased level of ambition exerts a significant impact on the types of activities Southern legislators would prefer to spend their time engaging in.