Minnesota nice is a cultural stereotype applied to the behavior of people from theU.S. state ofMinnesota, implying residents are unusuallycourteous, reserved, and mild-mannered compared to people from other states. The phrase also implies polite friendliness, an aversion to open confrontation, a tendency towardunderstatement, a disinclination to make a direct fuss or stand out, apparent emotional restraint, andself-deprecation.[1] It is sometimes associated withpassive-aggression.[2]
Playwright and corporate communications consultant Syl Jones suggested thatMinnesota nice is not so much about being "nice" but is more about keeping up appearances, maintaining thesocial order, and keeping people (including non-natives of the state) in their place. He relates thesesocial norms to the literary work of Danish-Norwegian novelistAksel Sandemose, the fictionalLaw of Jante, and more generally,Scandinavian culture.[3]Garrison Keillor'sA Prairie Home Companion discusses "Wobegonics", the supposed language of Minnesotans, which includes "no confrontational verbs or statements of strong personal preference".[4]
The generosity of state citizens has been commented on; the heavily reportedinfluenza vaccine shortage of late 2004 did not strike the state as hard as elsewhere since many people willingly gave upinjections for others.[5] 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 mostagreeable and fifth mostextraverted state in the nation, traits associated with "nice".[6]
The tradition ofsocial progressivism inMinnesota politics has been linked to the Minnesota Nice culture.[7]Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota and the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the2024 United States presidential election, has been described this way,[8] along with other Minnesotan politicians such asHubert Humphrey,Walter Mondale,Paul Wellstone, andAmy Klobuchar.[citation needed]
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, especiallyHmong from Laos andSomalis, as well as large numbers ofVietnamese,Burmese,Ethiopians,Laotians,Tibetans, andLiberians, have found homes in the state, particularly in theTwin Cities. Since 2002, Minnesota has harbored the largest population of Somalis in North America.[9]
Minnesota nice was an influence on theCoen brothers movieFargo, set in both Minnesota and neighboringNorth Dakota.[10][11] A 2003 documentary about the making of the movie was entitledMinnesota Nice.[12][13]
History professor Annette Atkins suggests that the concept is a marketing myth, emerging from the work ofHoward Mohr andGarrison Keillor in the 1980s. These authors may have created the myth in order to make Minnesota distinctive from neighboring states like Iowa.[2]
Journalist and Minnesota nativeMichele Norris argued the phrase had acquired "undertones of irony and despair" following the 2020murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.[14]
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