Mariska Hargitay: What trait do you most dislike in other people?

The question

What trait do you most dislike in other people?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A verbatim standing question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A questionnaire, documented across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Mariska Hargitay

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

The inability to listen. Inauthentic vocal registers. Calling anything other than food “delicious” or “yummy.”

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

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Lolita Chakrabarti British actress and writer

Lack of empathy.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 May 2022 source ↗

Seann Walsh

Certainty. I also can’t stand it when someone calls you and then says, “Wait, I need to put my headphones in.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 January 2026 source ↗

Ardal O'Hanlon Irish comedian and actor

Lack of self-doubt.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 June 2022 source ↗

Michelle Yeoh

Lying, unreliability.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2022 source ↗

More from Mariska Hargitay

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Question What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? Identity & self

My family. Together in a room with a sax, a piano, and a Ping-Pong table.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 19 January 2024 source ↗

Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

When our family was complete.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief

People who do hard, honorable work in obscurity.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

Sharks. The ones in the ocean.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

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