Young and Middle Adulthood 25Personality Effects on the Number of Friendships
More extraverted young adults (especially less shy people) report more friends
and also make new friends faster in novel settings (Anderson, John, Keltner, &
Kring, 2001; Asendorpf & Wilpers, 1998; Paunonen, 2003). Studies on initial
encounters and spontaneous liking of unknown others shed further light on how
extraversion can lead to having more friends. More extraverted people dress more
stylishly, behave more confidently, and express more positivity, for instance through
smiling— factors that make extraverted people attractive to others and make oth-
ers like them better (Back et al., 2011). Higher self- esteem and higher narcissism
(specifically feeling admired) show similar effects on being liked at first sight (Back,
Schmukle, & Egloff, 2010; Back, Schmukle et al., 2011; Back et al., 2013). This is
likely due to self- esteem and narcissism showing some overlap with extraversion,
and also with the behavioral cues that lead to being liked, that is, fashionable appear-
ance, confident behavior, and positive facial expressions (Back et al., 2010; Back
et al., 2013).
Agreeableness is related less consistently with having friends. Some studies
found that people liked more agreeable young adults better (based on their online
social network profile; Stopfer, Egloff, Nestler, & Back, 2013) and selected them
more often as friends (Selfhout et al., 2010), whereas other studies found no signifi-
cant associations (Anderson et al., 2001; Back, Schmukle et al., 2011; Paunonen,
2003). The discrepancies between studies point to potential gender differences in
the effect of agreeableness, because the two studies with significant effects consisted
of mostly females (≈85% female). Presumably, being liked depends more strongly
on being agreeable and nice for women than for men (Birnbaum, Ein- Dor, Reis, &
Segal, 2014).
Personality Effects on the Quality of Friendships
Personality traits also predict the quality of friendships. For example, people higher
in extraversion have more contact with friends (Asendorpf & Wilpers, 1998; Mehl,
Gosling, & Pennebaker, 2006) and report greater importance of, emotional close-
ness to, and perceived support from friends (Asendorpf & Wilpers, 1998; Neyer &
Asendorpf, 2001). More optimistic people also typically perceive more social sup-
port from others compared with more pessimistic people (e.g., Brissette, Scheier, &
Carver, 2002). Indeed, other people liked optimistic (and realistic) people better
(Vollmann, Renner, & Weber, 2007), but were equally likely to potentially help
optimistic, realistic, or pessimistic people (Vollmann et al., 2007; Vollmann &
Renner, 2010). This finding suggests that the associations between extraversion and
optimism, and perceived support may not extend to actual support. Actual support
often depends on the needs and the resources of the supported and the supporting
friend (Clark & Mills, 1979; Clark, Mills, & Powell, 1986). Again, agreeableness