The personality traits of liked people

There is surprisingly little understanding of how personality traits are associated with being generally liked by others after adolescence (Ozer & Benet-Martinez, 2006). We examined the relationship between self-reported personality traits and being generally liked in young adulthood in Greek organizations and freshman dormitories. We found a high level of consistency in which traits were associated with being liked. We examined the relationship between liked and socially desirable traits, using a recent theory on agency and communion (Wojciszke, Abele, & Baryla, 2009). Results help to create a personality profile of the person who is more liked by others, especially pointing to the importance of communal characteristics that are associated with behavior benefiting others.

► We examine the personality traits associated with being generally liked by others in two samples.
► In general, people higher in the sociability aspects of extraversion are more liked by others.
► People higher in dominance aspects of extraversion are less liked by others.
► People higher in communal traits (oriented toward others’ interests) are more liked by others.