Personality Correlates of Social Attitudes and Social Distance

Recent research explores how individual personality characteristics relate to social attitudes and social distance — the degree of acceptance or closeness individuals feel toward people they perceive as different. The study sheds light on how personality traits relate to social attitudes, prejudice, and how people relate to others outside their own social group.

What Is Social Distance?

Social distance refers to how comfortable people are with others who differ from them by ethnicity, social status, lifestyle, or other forms of diversity. Higher social distance often reflects discomfort, avoidance, or a lack of acceptance toward those perceived as “other.”

Understanding social distance is essential for studying social attitudes because it influences how individuals engage with diverse communities and shapes their responses to social inclusion or exclusion.

Personality and Social Attitudes

The research examines key personality traits — including empathy, self-direction, and emotional regulation — to identify how they relate to social attitudes and social distance. The findings indicate that individuals with stronger empathy and better self-regulation report more positive social attitudes and lower social distance. In contrast, lower levels of these personality traits correspond with greater distance and less acceptance of differences.

These results suggest that personality traits contribute significantly to how individuals form attitudes about other people and social groups. Rather than external factors alone, internal psychological processes influence levels of acceptance, openness, and tolerance.

Key Findings

• Individuals with higher empathy tend to exhibit more positive social attitudes and reduced social distance.
• Strong self-direction and emotional regulation correlate with openness and acceptance of diversity.
• Lower levels of these traits associate with greater social distance and more negative attitudes toward perceived “others.”

Implications

The study highlights the importance of considering personality functioning when exploring social attitudes and social distance. By showing that internal psychological factors influence how individuals relate to diversity, the research contributes to broader discussions about prejudice, social cohesion, and conflict.

These insights matter for educators, psychologists, and community leaders who aim to promote inclusion, understanding, and tolerance. Recognizing the role of personality can help inform programs and policies designed to reduce social distance and improve social integration.

For more details, see: Jonáš, J., Doubková, N., Heissler, R., Sanders, E. M., Preiss, M. (2023). Personality correlates of social attitudes and social distance. Current Issues in Personality Psychology.

https://doi.org/10.5114/cipp/166031