What do we value more in people: warmth or competence?

When assessing someone else, warmth plays a more important role than competence.
When assessing ourselves, we believe that competence (the capability of someone to carry out intentions) is more important.
Without knowing, we often assume that there is a “trade off” between warmth and competence in a person. These two dimensions help us understand how we think about and act toward others. We admire warm/competent people, envy (and sometimes scapegoat) those who are cold and competent, pity those who are perceived as warm and incompetent, and have contempt for the cold and incompetent.

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