Worried about incurring the wrath of a New Yorker after cutting them off in rush hour traffic?
Forgeddaboutit!
Exacting revenge against someone over a minor offense is apparently déclassé to the dignified dwellers of Gotham, according to a September 2023 study, which found that New York ranked in the top five least petty states across the U.S.
“For a city that never sleeps, New Yorkers are surprisingly laidback,” lead researcher Anna Osborne, who conducted the probe on behalf of Canadian betting site Casino.ca, told The Post. “Our nationwide survey reveals that petty antics just aren’t their style.“
The Heart of Dixie, however, is apparently lacking heart.
Alabama reigned supreme as the state with the “highest levels of pettiness,” according to Osborne’s survey, which revealed that 96% of respondents from there copped to being plagued with a propensity toward getting payback.
Nevada, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Illinois and Arkansas filled out the other top slots on the maliciousness list.
Conversely, although not a state, the District of Columbia is the least petty area in the U.S., according to the research, with 67% of respondents confessing to embracing the caustic characteristic.
Vermont hit the lower end of the scale with 68% admitting to pettiness, followed by Nebraska and Utah (both 71%) and then New York (72%). (Complete data was unavailable for Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota and Delaware.)
Osborne launched the investigation into people’s pettiness due to the unflattering trait’s growing popularity online, where its eponymous hashtag has stockpiled more than 4.4 billion TikTok views.
She and her team polled 3,000 Americans over age 18, prompting each to rate their pettiness on a scale of one to 10. Participants were also asked to indicate which commonly triggering scenario — romantic relationships, driving, workplace issues, friendships, social media, gaming and playing sports — spikes their thirst for trivial vengeance the most.
“New York is the fourth least-petty state in the US,” declared the report, adding that its residents rated their pettiness levels at a mild six out of 10.
However, Osborne told The Post that hot-headed residents of the Empire State typically resort to low-down, dirty stunts when it comes to matters of the heart.
“When New Yorkers do dabble in a moment of pettiness, it’s often in the midst of romantic relationship dramas,” she noted, per the research.
The survey determined that 27% of folks in New York are the most petty amid messy disputes with a significant other. Friendships (20%), driving (16%), gaming and work (12%), social media (10%) and sports (3%) all trailed closely behind as secondary pettiness prompters.
This isn’t the first time New York has taken an eye-popping position in a national appraisal.
The celebrated land stood head-and-shoulders above the rest as the third most popular state in the U.S. to produce Instagram influencers, per a poll conducted in September. And in August, New York was crowned “the most bougie” state in North America, owing to its bounty of “Birkin Moms,” who enjoy toting luxury label handbags while patronizing choice shops and spas across Manhattan.
Victoria Lagg, 34, a flawlessly fab member of the city’s designer mom squad, told The Post “There’s nothing wrong with being bougie,” at the time of the ranking. “In New York, it’s accepted — whereas in a smaller town or city you can get strange looks.”
However, it seems having a penchant for pettiness, rather than a $20,000 purse, is en vogue in lesser-known neighborhoods.
Subjects from the new survey additionally provided examiners with detailed accounts of their most vindictive acts of retribution.
When asked to share their most petty transgressions, respondents from all corners of the country shamelessly revealed their revolting truths.
“Before moving out of my old apartment, I took all the batteries out of everything my jerk roommate owned,” admitted a truly petty participant.
“I’m the type that will slow down to 5 miles per hour if you tailgate me-then suddenly slam on the brakes. Watch out!” said another.
“I turn the game off when my wife is winning,” confessed a sour loser.
“I put chewed gum in the door handle of someone who took a parking spot I had been waiting for,” another wrote.
“My boyfriend would not interact with me on social media,” said a sorehead, “so I unfollowed him,”