Depending on who’s asking, Utah can either be the best state in the nation or one of the worst.
Almost everything is ranked these days. From lighthearted rankings of states’ nicknames to more serious fare like the friendliest states for entrepreneurs, there is very little information about a place that isn’t being compared to how it is everywhere else.
“In today's world, we rank everything,” said Brigham Young University business professor Chad Carlos. “And one of the reasons we do that is because we live in a world of so much information and complexity that we try to distill that down to make things simple and make decision-making easier.”
It’s also just human nature to categorize things and label them good and bad.
Historically speaking, humans’ instinct to separate things into groups was one of survival, said University of Utah psychology professor Samantha Moore-Berg. It was beneficial for humans to identify who was like them and who was not because it could potentially protect them from danger.
The danger posed by a rival tribe of hunter-gatherers or wild animals might not be as prevalent today, but the urge to sort information into groups is still very much there.
“It’s just very natural to categorize people, to put people into boxes, to put states into boxes,” Moore-Berg said. “That gives us quick information about what the people might be like who live in those places.”
There’s also the fact that it feels good to be part of a winning group. Moore-Berg said when humans feel a close association with something, like the state they live in, it’s natural to feel better when that thing is perceived as good.
But while good rankings can give people a confidence boost, it’s likely just validating something they already believe.
“I'm not sure if it's the source of happiness,” she said. “But it probably confirms why they are already happy.”
On the business side, there can be economic benefits to state rankings. One example Carlos offered was that a high ranking can make the decision to start a business or buy a house that much easier.
“[A ranking] gives me a way to simplify my decision-making of where we might go without having to objectively gather, collect and analyze data on every state,” he said. “That takes a lot of time. I may not even know where to go, what data to collect.”
Fellow BYU professor Ben Lewis agrees that there can be tangible benefits, but cautioned against rankings as the be-all, end-all for important decisions. While great for simplifying often complex data, he said rankings can also easily oversimplify to the point where important nuance is lost.
“Utah is a great place to live, but is it so much better than the number five ranked or even 10 ranked? Probably not, right?” he said. “Rankings sometimes create distinctions that are really minuscule when you look at closely ranked entities.”
For all of the accolades Utah likes to flaunt, the state has also found itself at the bottom, too.
In early July, CNBC ranked Utah as the sixth worst state to live in America. The reaction was swift, with some people piling on the hate online while others dismissed the methodology altogether. It wasn’t without merit, however, as air quality and childcare are known struggles.
Moore-Berg said negative reactions to bad rankings are probably because Utahns are known for their strong social connections and a strong sense of identity for what it means to be a Utahn.
“When people's identities feel threatened or when they feel like they're being attacked, even if it's a ranking that a news organization puts out, people take it personally,” she said. “They don't want to hear that their group that they're a part of is bad in any sort of way, and that hurts.”
Bad rankings can also be used positively. Carlos has seen leaders latch on to criticisms as a “tool to garner support, resources, attention to actually motivate change.”
Even then, while a low ranking might sting, Lewis opined that most of the time, a ranking’s real purpose might not have much to do with the states at all.
“I think for a lot of the purveyors, the organizers of rankings, they do it because it attracts business,” he said. “It brings eyeballs to their websites. Readers to their magazines and things like that.”
Because sometimes drumming up a little bit of controversy can be good for business.
