The Most Socially Attractive Personality Trait

What trait people find attractive on first impression and over the long term.

What trait people find attractive on first impression and over the long term.

Optimists are seen as more socially attractive than pessimists, research finds.

But this is just when people meet for the first time and do not know each other.

In long-term relationships, optimists are best matched with other optimists and pessimists get on with both other optimists and pessimists.

In other words, optimists mix well in long-term relationships with everyone, but pessimists can be a downer on other optimists — although they don’t seem to bother other pessimists.

The results come from a study of 248 people who read a series of vignettes that described either optimistic or pessimistic people.

Most people found the optimists more socially attractive.

However, people who were themselves optimists liked the other optimist even more.

On the other hand, people who were pessimists were not quite as keen on the optimist, but still preferred them to the pessimist.

Pessimists also had a sneaky liking for the other pessimist.

The results were more nuanced, though, when people considered their own long-term relationships.

Optimists were more satisfied when in a relationship with another optimist, and pessimists were happy with another pessimist or an optimist.

The authors write:

“…optimists may perceive a pessimistic partner as a burden, which may in turn affect their perceptions of relationship quality negatively.

Interestingly, this was not the case for pessimists, who reported the same levels of relationship quality regardless of whether they perceived their partners as pessimistic or as optimistic.”

The results support a psychological theory about interpersonal attraction called the ‘similarity-attraction hypothesis’.

The study’s authors write:

“Such a similarity attraction effect has been shown to be characteristic in the field of attitudes.

The similarity-attraction hypothesis claims that people tend to perceive others who are similar to themselves as more attractive than dissimilar others.”

The study was published in The Journal of Positive Psychology (Böhm et al., 2010).

An Easy Way To Instantly Make People Like You

Psychologists call this slightly weird phenomenon ‘spontaneous trait transference’.

Psychologists call this slightly weird phenomenon ‘spontaneous trait transference’.

Saying nice things about others when talking to an acquaintance reflects positively on your own personality, research finds.

If you describe another person as genuine and kind, your acquaintance will assume that you are genuine and kind.

The nice things you say about others are transferred to yourself.

So, to make the person you are speaking to like you more, say nice things about others.

On the other hand, bitching makes people think you have these negative traits.

It reflects the old saying that if you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.

Spontaneous trait transference

Psychologists call this slightly weird phenomenon ‘spontaneous trait transference’.

The effect is so strong that it even works when people know that the traits do not describe you.

For example, let’s say I am a nice person and my friend knows it.

Then I start describing another person who is a cheat and a liar.

Just this will be enough to start the person I am talking to thinking that I am a cheat and a liar — even though they know I am not!

Of course, this makes no sense.

But, the reason it happens is not logical, it is down to a purely mindless associative process.

The study’s authors write:

“…trait transference is not simply a tendency to attribute negative characteristics to those who disparage others, or to ascribe positive characteristics to those who compliment others.

Rather, communicators are ascribed the very traits implied by their descriptions of others.”

The conclusions come from a set of four studies involving hundreds of people.

Participants watched a video in which another person talked about themselves or an acquaintance.

The results showed that participants reliably transferred the traits people described in others onto the person who was speaking.

The authors conclude that:

“It suggests that gossip and other forms of social discourse may have rather surprising, and often unintended, implications for a communicator.

Thus, it supports the cliche that if one cannot say something nice about someone, one ought not to say anything at all.

It also indicates that self presenters may achieve desired trait attributions merely by talking about others who have the desired traits.”

The study was published in the journal Attitudes and Social Cognition (Skowronski et al., 1998).

The Personality Trait That Makes You More Attractive

The trait is also linked to being happier, having more confidence and better physical health.

The trait is also linked to being happier, having more confidence and better physical health.

Generous people are rated as more physically attractive by others, research finds.

All kinds of generous acts are effective, from giving up time for charitable causes to just giving affection to others.

The researchers call it the ‘good-looking giver effect’.

It is one more benefit of being helpful and giving to others that researchers have discovered.

Generous people are already known to be happier, have more confidence and even be in better physical health.

Dr Sara Konrath, the study’s first author, said:

“Poets and philosophers have suggested the link between moral and physical beauty for centuries.

This study confirms that people who are perceived as more attractive are more likely to give and givers are seen as more attractive.”

The conclusions come from three large studies, two of which followed participants from adolescence into adulthood.

The results revealed a two-way relationship between giving and attractiveness.

People who are more attractive are also more generous, the study found.

It disproves a common misconception that good-looking people are more selfish — in fact, the reverse is true.

Professor Femida Handy, study co-author, said:

“Although we cannot fully explain why the link between giving behaviors and attractiveness exists, we find remarkable consistency across the three studies, despite being conducted at different times, using different participants, and using different methods and measures.”

People already spend a lot of money on beauty products and cosmetic surgery.

Could good deeds become the latest beauty trend, asks Dr Konrath:

“Our findings suggest that beauty products and procedures may not be the only way to enhance an individual’s attractiveness.

Perhaps being generous could be the next beauty trend.”

The study was published in the journal Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (Konrath & Handy, 2020).

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The findings may result from it being hard to tell whether society is progressing or not and a natural bias in the way memory works.


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People feel most positive about their photos when the perspective matches their intention in taking the photo.


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Why only the slightest commonalities are enough to increase people’s liking for each other.

Why only the slightest commonalities are enough to increase people's liking for each other.


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The patterns have nothing to do with habits, days of the week, the menstrual cycle or phases of the moon.


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