Partners among Strangers: A social Relations perspective on personality and collaborative partner preferences in first encounters

Collaborative partnerships are often formed following a first encounter. For example, unacquainted individuals may collaborate to complete a project, develop a product, or solve a problem. Using the Social Relations Model, this study examined the extent to which first-encounter trait perceptions predicted collaborative partner preferences. Previously-unacquainted participants (N = 297, 55 groups, 55.9% female) interacted dyadically and provided round-robin ratings of extraversion, honesty-humility, competence, and partner preference. At the target level, individuals who were consistently viewed as extraverted and competent were consistently preferred more as partners. At the relationship level, individuals who were uniquely viewed as honest-humble and competent were uniquely preferred more as partners. Findings underscore the relevance of target- and relationship-specific perceptions in predicting first-encounter collaborative partner preferences.