Book Resources

Additional Information for Chapter 5, page 72

What follows is probably the most famous list of personality traits in Psychology.

Can you help with our research? Are you reviewing this list for Personal or Business reasons?

In 1968 Norman Anderson came up with the 555 personal characteristics (listed below) and had hundreds of students rank order the 555 words from most desirable (Note the top 4 are Sincere, Honest, Understanding, and Loyal) to most distasteful (the last 4 are cruel, mean, phony, and liar).  The order of the list below represents the average of the students’ rating.  Here is the reference if you would like to read Anderson’s original article:

Anderson, N. H. (1968).  Likableness ratings of 555 personality-trait words. Journal of Social Psychology, 9, 272-279.

This list may assist you in determining some of your personal qualities that you may not have thought of otherwise.

What follows is an additional list drawn from several sources.  There are many duplicates from the Norman Anderson list but enough new words to be worth the effort for some.  The words are listed alphabetically.