People are more likely to project their traits and beliefs onto liked others as opposed to disliked ones; however, this effect is diminished when considering their levels of similarity.
If we think that both a liked and disliked person is extremely similar to ourselves, then we might expect them both to possess similar traits and beliefs to ourselves.

Results: Projection and Similarity

Asked participants to rate themselves, people they like and dislike, and people they thought they were similar to and different from on various Big 5 personality traits. Were looking to see if one's self-description was predictive of the trait ratings of another individual. 

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Pertains to differences in social projection tendencies to liked others (e.g. friends, family, etc.) and disliked others (e.g. former friends, enemies, etc.).

Projection to Liked and Disliked Targets

Contains studies that used the Big 5 Personality Traits (often self-reported) in their methodology.

Studies that Utilize the Big 5 Personality Traits 

Davis, M. H. (2017). Social projection to liked and disliked targets: The role of perceived similarity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 286-293.

Social Projection to Liked and Disliked Targets: The Role of Perceived Similarity

Projection and Similarity

Asked participants to rate themselves, someone they like, and someone they dislike on personality traits (Big 5) and emotional traits (PANAS-X). Also looked at the degrees to which one knew and liked these individuals.

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