The Seattle Freeze refers to a belief that it is especially difficult to make new friends (particularly for transplants from other cities) in the city of Seattle, Washington. According to KUOW radio, a 2005 Seattle Times article was the oldest reference to the term found.
Newcomers to the area have described Seattleites as being standoffish, cold, distant, and not trusting, while in settings such as bars and parties, people from Seattle tend to mainly interact with their particular clique. One author described the aversion to strangers as: "people are very polite but not particularly friendly." In 2008 a peer-reviewed study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science found that among all states, Washington residents ranked 48th in the personality trait extroverted. Some residents dispute the existence of the Seattle Freeze. The rapid growth of Amazon and its accompanying influx of largely young, male technology workers may be making the problem worse.
It has been speculated that the origin of the phenomenon stems from the reserved personalities of the city's early Nordic and Japanese immigrants. Other reasons might include the emotional effects of the climate or the region's history of independent-minded pioneers.