What Type of First Impressions Spark Unique Attraction?

Dominant behavior draws crowds, but friendliness forges deeper ties.

Posted June 1, 2026 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

When meeting someone for the first time, we experience some perceptions immediately—such as whether or not we like them. If we do, there is a difference between being generally impressed by them and feeling unique attraction . Both forms of liking are based on the way they behave, since even during a first meeting in an interpersonal setting, our attraction to someone else is based on both verbal and nonverbal behavior.

For people seeking to make a good impression in settings such as networking or campaigning, research by Martje Buss et al. (2024) emphasizes the importance of dominant behavior in creating popularity. 1 They note that people high in extraversion are often perceived as more popular both in person and within virtual group interactions, a result they suggest can be explained in part by the fact that extraversion includes a display of more dominant behaviors, which are used to judge popularity.

In a personal setting, however, other research indicates there may be increased value placed on behavior designed to promote the common good, as opposed to self-promotion. Depending on personal or professional goals involved in a first meeting, different forms of behavior prompt different types of interpersonal liking.

The Uncommon Attraction of Communal Behavior

Within the context of first encounters, Michael Dufner and Sascha Krause (2023) investigated the impact of agentic and communal behavior on being liked. 2 They described communal behavior as generally beneficial for everyone, meaning that people who interact in a warm, friendly fashion usually create shared benefits for everyone. They describe agentic behavior as typically self-beneficial, meaning that behaving in an assertive , dominant fashion creates benefits such as increased power or access to resources. During the getting-acquainted phase of a new relationship, agentic people might be liked more than shy people—who they note may create an environment of uneasiness.

Dufner and Krause considered the impact of agentic and communal behavior on two forms of being liked: popularity, defined as being generally liked , and being uniquely liked by interaction partners. Examining conversations of 139 unacquainted German adults, they studied four agentic behaviors (dominant, leading, boastful, and confident) and four communal behaviors (warm, friendly, polite, and benevolent). They found that participants who displayed both agentic and communal behavior were generally liked, meaning they were popular. But when participants’ communal (but not agentic) behavior exceeded personal standards, they ended up being particularly well-liked by their interaction partner, defined as unique liking.

Dufner and Krause found that participants who behaved in a communal fashion were generally popular, which they note is consistent with the proposition that communion facilitates social inclusion. They also found that popularity was predicted by agentic behavior, which indicates not only that agency predicts respect and status, but that individuals who display agentic behavior may also be generally liked. When it comes to unique liking, however, Dufner and Krause found that it was communal behavior that evoked unique liking, supporting its central role in developing friendships.

Match Interpersonal Messaging to the Meeting

Depending on individual goals within different settings, both personal and professional, conversation and nonverbal behavior combine to create different types of impressions. A different approach may be more effective at a political rally than when meeting a new set of colleagues for the first time at a new job. And different impression management strategies are presumed appropriate in an interview for a new job than on a first date. But generally speaking, there is value in considering how different types of behaviors generate different types of attraction and liking in different situations.

See, e.g., Buss, Martje, Jenny Wagner, Eva Bleckmann, and Larissa L. Wieczorek. “Popularity at First Sight: Dominant Behaviours Mediate the Link between Extraversion and Popularity in Face‐to‐face and Virtual Group Interactions.” British Journal of Social Psychology 63, no. 3 (2024): 1226–53.
Dufner, Michael, and Sascha Krause. “On How to Be Liked in First Encounters: The Effects of Agentic and Communal Behaviors on Popularity and Unique Liking.” Psychological Science [Los Angeles, CA], vol. 34, no. 4, April 2023, pp. 481–89.

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Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., Ph.D., is a career trial attorney, behavioral analyst, author of Why Bad Looks Good , Red Flags , and co-author of the revised New York Times bestseller Reading People .

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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.