They found that terms people considered to be important were used most frequently;  these terms also applied to more people, to reflected more stable person characteristics, and to pertained to a wider range of behaviors.
People like to describe others in ways that maximize generalizability across a broad range of behaviors, rather than using specific examples.

Results: Terms Used to Describe Personality

Investigated how ratings of importance, social desirability, observability, stateness versus traitness, level of abstraction, and base rate are associated with one another and usage. Participants were asked to provide terms that described individuals they knew.

Alma College

Relates to how we use traits to describe others

Traits and Personality/Person Descriptions

Leising, D., Scharloth, J., Lohse, O., & Wood, D. (2014). What types of terms do people use when describing an individual’s personality?. Psychological science, 25(9), 1787-1794.

What Types of Terms Do People Use When
Describing an Individual’s Personality?

Relates to how we use traits to describe people we like and don't like

Traits for Liked and Disliked Others

Pertains to how we include other's trait knowledge in construction of our own traits and personality

Inclusion of Other's in Self Trait Descriptions

Terms Used to Describe Personality

Individuals will feel most authentic when acting in accordance with their traits.

Trait-consistency Hypothesis of Authenticity

Individuals would feel more authentic when they act in accordance with certain traits, such as extraversion and  agreeableness, regardless of the actor’s corresponding traits. 

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