Editing Minnesota nice

{{short description|Cultural stereotype applied to Minnesotans.}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}

'''Minnesota nice''' is a cultural stereotype applied to the behavior of people from the [[U.S. state]] of [[Minnesota]], implying residents are unusually [[courteous]], reserved, and mild-mannered compared to people from other states. The phrase also implies polite friendliness, an aversion to open confrontation, a tendency toward [[understatement]], a disinclination to make a direct fuss or stand out, apparent emotional restraint, and [[self-deprecation]].<ref name="Atkins">{{cite book |last=Atkins |first=Annette |year=2008 |title=Creating Minnesota: A History from the Inside Out |publisher=[[Minnesota Historical Society]] |isbn=978-0-87351-633-4 |pages=242, 243, 248}}</ref> It is sometimes associated with [[passive-aggression]].<ref name="Hutton 2019">{{cite web |last=Hutton |first=Rachel |title=Is Minnesota Nice even nice? Where did the term originate? |website=[[Star Tribune]] |date=April 23, 2019 |url=https://www.startribune.com/where-does-the-term-minnesota-nice-come-from-and-what-does-it-mean/502474301/ |access-date=February 19, 2024}}</ref>

== Social norms ==

[[Playwright]] and corporate communications consultant Syl Jones suggested that ''Minnesota nice'' is not so much about being "nice" but is more about keeping up appearances, maintaining the [[social order]], and keeping people (including non-natives of the state) in their place. He relates these [[social norms]] to the literary work of Danish-Norwegian novelist [[Aksel Sandemose]], the fictional [[Law of Jante]], and more generally, [[Scandinavia]]n culture.<ref>{{cite news <!-- actually commentary, but news citation format --> |url=http://www.mprnews.org/story/2009/12/14/syljones |title=The unwritten rules that tell Minnesotans how to be nice |first=Syl |last=Jones |date=December 14, 2009 |publisher=[[Minnesota Public Radio]] |location=[[Saint Paul, Minnesota]] |access-date=December 14, 2009}}</ref> [[Garrison Keillor]]'s ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' discusses "Wobegonics", the supposed language of Minnesotans, which includes "no confrontational verbs or statements of strong personal preference".<ref>[http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/19970419/97_0419WOBEGONICS.htm "Wobegonics" on ''A Prairie Home Companion'', Saturday, April 19, 1997]. Retrieved December 14, 2009.</ref>

== Examples ==
The generosity of state citizens has been commented on; the heavily reported [[influenza vaccine]] shortage of late 2004 did not strike the state as hard as elsewhere since many people willingly gave up [[injection (medicine)|injection]]s for others.<ref>''[[New York Times]]''. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/12/national/12flu.html In Minnesota, Flu Vaccines Go Waiting]". November 12, 2004.</ref> The concept has also received some support from the academic community; a national study by Peter Rentfrow, [[Samuel D. Gosling]], and Jeff Potter done in 2008 found that Minnesota was the second most [[Agreeableness|agreeable]] and fifth most [[Extraversion|extraverted]] state in the nation, traits associated with "nice".<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00084.x |pmid=26158954 |title=A Theory of the Emergence, Persistence, and Expression of Geographic Variation in Psychological Characteristics |journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=339–69 |year=2008 |last1=Rentfrow |first1=Peter J. |last2=Gosling |first2=Samuel D. |last3=Potter |first3=Jeff |s2cid=17059908}}</ref>

The tradition of [[social progressivism]] in [[Minnesota politics]] has been linked to the Minnesota Nice culture.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Christian |last1=Eichenlaub |year=2008 |title='Minnesota Nice': A Comparative Analysis of Minnesota's Treatment of Adoption by Gay Couples |journal=University of St. Thomas Law Journal |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=312–34 |url=http://ir.stthomas.edu/ustlj/vol5/iss1/13/}}</ref> [[Tim Walz]], Governor of Minnesota and the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the [[2024 United States presidential election]], has been described this way,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Black |first1=Eric |title=In State of the State speech, Walz embodies Minnesota's best qualities |url=https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2020/04/in-state-of-the-state-speech-walz-embodies-minnesotas-best-qualities/ |access-date=6 August 2024 |work=MinnPost |date=6 April 2020}}</ref> along with other Minnesotan politicians such as [[Hubert Humphrey]], [[Walter Mondale]], [[Paul Wellstone]], and [[Amy Klobuchar]].{{cn|date=August 2024}}

Since the 1960s and 1970s and continuing into the present, Minnesota has been a leading state in refugee resettlement, which can be linked to the traditions of progressivism and generosity associated with Minnesota nice.  Various groups, especially [[Hmong in Minneapolis|Hmong]] from Laos and [[Somalis in Minneapolis|Somalis]], as well as large numbers of [[Vietnamese Americans|Vietnamese]], [[Burmese Americans|Burmese]], [[Ethiopian Americans|Ethiopians]], [[Laotian Americans|Laotians]], [[Tibetan Americans|Tibetans]], and [[Liberian Americans|Liberians]], have found homes in the state, particularly in the [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul|Twin Cities]]. Since 2002, Minnesota has harbored the largest population of Somalis in North America.<ref>{{Cite web |title= |url=http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/New_Americans_in_the_North_Star_State_2009.pdf |access-date=2024-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104164313/http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/New_Americans_in_the_North_Star_State_2009.pdf |archive-date=November 4, 2009}}</ref>

Minnesota nice was an influence on the [[Coen brothers]] movie ''[[Fargo (1996 film)|Fargo]]'', set in both Minnesota and neighboring [[North Dakota]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Fuller |first=Graham |title=How Frances McDormand Got Into 'Minnesota Nice' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/17/movies/how-frances-mcdormand-got-into-minnesota-nice.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=January 13, 2021 |date=March 17, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Meslow |first=Scott |title=Minnesota Nice vs. Evil: The moral universe of FX's remarkable Fargo |url=https://theweek.com/articles/580770/minnesota-nice-vs-evil-moral-universe-fxs-remarkable-fargo |website=theweek.com |access-date=January 13, 2021 |date=October 12, 2015}}</ref> A 2003 documentary about the making of the movie was entitled ''Minnesota Nice''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jacobson |first=Colin |title=Fargo: Special Edition (1996) |url=http://www.dvdmg.com/fargose.shtml |website=www.dvdmg.com |access-date=January 13, 2021 |date=September 16, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New 'Fargo' truly a special edition, you betcha |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/new-fargo-truly-special-edition-you-betcha-wbna3130901 |website=TODAY.com |access-date=January 13, 2021 |date=November 7, 2003}}</ref>

== Criticism ==

History professor Annette Atkins suggests that the concept is a marketing myth, emerging from the work of [[Howard Mohr]] and [[Garrison Keillor]] in the 1980s. These authors may have created the myth in order to make Minnesota distinctive from neighboring states like Iowa.<ref name="Hutton 2019"/>

Journalist and Minnesota native [[Michele Norris]] argued the phrase had acquired "undertones of irony and despair" following the 2020 [[murder of George Floyd]] in Minneapolis.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michele |last=Norris |author-link=Michele Norris |title=Opinion: It's hard to hear 'Minnesota Nice' without undertones of irony and despair |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/04/its-hard-hear-minnesota-nice-without-undertones-irony-despair/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 4, 2020 |access-date=June 6, 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States}}
{{wiktionary|Minnesota nice}}

* [[Agreeableness]]
* ''[[Beverly Hills 90210]]'' (TV show with Minnesota Nice tropes)
* ''[[Fargo (1996 film)|Fargo]]'' (Movie with Minnesota Nice tropes)
* [[Iowa nice]]
* [[Seattle Freeze]]
* [[Southern hospitality]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Minnesota culture|Nice]]
[[Category:Personality traits]]
[[Category:Pleasure]]
[[Category:Virtue]]
[[Category:Kindness]]
[[Category:Stereotypes]]