The Atlantic

The Personality Trait That Makes People Feel Comfortable Around You

People with positive “affective presence” are easy to be around and oil the gears of social interactions.
Source: Benjamin Torode / Getty

Some people can walk into a room and instantly put everyone at ease. Others seem to make teeth clench and eyes roll no matter what they do. A small body of psychology research supports the idea that the way a person tends to make others feel is a consistent and measurable part of his personality. Researchers call it “affective presence.”

This concept was first described nearly 10 years ago in . They put

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