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Scientists have been looking into what makes people like you for decades. After trying to pinpoint the exact reason, it has been established that it’s a combination of factors.
Harvard researchers revealed back in June that asking more questions during a conversation may make you come off as more understanding and more likable. Follow-up questions are a plus, and this goes for both online and in-person communication. The findings were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
According to ScienceAlert.com, people tend to associate adjectives you use to describe other people with your personality. This phenomenon is called spontaneous trait transference.
The study found that “this effect occurred even when people knew certain traits didn't describe the people who had talked about them”.
Back in 1999, New York University researchers also documented the "chameleon effect", which occurs when people unconsciously mimic each other's behavior.
A few years later, in 2002, Princeton University psychologists proposed the “stereotype content model”, which believes people may judge others based on their warmth and competence. According to the model, if you can portray yourself as warm (or friendly) people will feel like they can trust you.
That same year, research from Illinois State University and California State University at Los Angeles found that, in a friend or romantic partner, a sense of humor may be the ticket in.
Another study from researchers at DePaul University and Illinois State University concluded that using humor at the start of a relationship can make the person like you more.
Scientifically speaking, there’s no true reason why people like other people. It’s a combination of things; so maybe, try a joke?