This version of personality vectors takes psychology research from a random user on r/psychology into account.
This framework helps to reason about
I use this framework as a retroactive explanation for social interactions. When I interact with people, I first consider how I felt about the interaction, then if I need to explain a concept or [over]analyze a situation, I extrapolate details out to this model.
Every person has a set of things they care about. People have preferences on everything from appearances to intelligence to dessert interests and favorite movies. You can take these preferences and combine them into a single value/point on a vector. Some of these preferences are rational while others are not. For instance, you might be drawn to someone drastically different from you (e.g. "toxic friends for rebellion"). The vector here describes a person’s preferences. Let’s call this the preference vector (pv). A pv is also a reading of what someone cares about and their own tendencies. Put simply, it’s a summary of “who they really are”. This summary changes over time. I’ve elaborated on how you can combine preferences to a vector in “Creating a Preference Vector”.
In the example below, I’ve chosen some traits that I admire and desire (right) as well as some I dislike (left). It’s important to note here that, in my opinion, traits aren’t intrinsically better/worse than each other (moral relativism). People (A) tend to be interested in other people (B) they look up to, who (B) have values they (A) appreciate. People (A) want to be with others (B) who are as high up on their (A) vectors as possible, and typically grow distant from those who aren’t. A counterpoint here might be “what about people who welcome diverse individuals”? Then other people who enjoy being around people with vectors that are more different? Then they’ll simply enjoy being around others who have vectors who likely also share this interest in differing values.
One quick note: This image simplifies how values work. The fact that someone has values you enjoy raises where they are on this line, and vice versa. Each value can contribute positively or negatively and this differs from person to person. For a nicer visualization, please check out preference vector 2.
What happens when two (or more) people hang out? If the two people discuss and share ideas that are received positively by the other, their vectors begin to converge (or at least become more compatible) and vice versa. Take, for instance, when you share your opinions about your favorite mode of transportation or movie. This influences your friend to consider these factors similarly, as you’ve added supporting evidence for your point of view. The changes don’t necessarily have to push you to be more similar; they can have opposing effects as well (but I think most interactions lead to further similarities).
According to Kahneman's "Prospect Theory", some relationships are more sigmoidal. Other research by Bib Latane proposed that social relations follow a logarithmic trend (with linear transformation). Some relationships are curvilinear (quadratic) while others are more ogival.
This works out well, since people you care about may further influence your opinions to be improved in ways you’re interested in, but were previously unaware of. This is also why people may seek out their friends advice’ and typically will ask their close friends before asking others who are less close. We may also ask for advice simply to be heard and comforted or to fulfill our confirmation bias (this happens most of the time).