The aim of this study was to examine the manifestation of personality traits in nonverbal behavior during dyadic interaction, and whether the submissive or dominant pose is the trigger for dominant behavior in dominant subjects. The study was conducted on 71 female students with an average age of 20.3 years. The traits of the five-factor model of personality, dominance and prestige were measured and the behavior of the subjects was continuously recorded during dyadic interaction with the female confederate. Independent assessors coded the dominant (pose akimbo, elbow distance, arms in front of the body) and submissive behaviors (arms crossed, hands together and behind the body) from which later composites of dominant behavior were made for each experimental situation. We hypothesized that more dominant and extraverted female students will exhibit more dominant behavior than submissive behavior, whereas other personality traits will not be associated with dominant or submissive behavior. Also, we expected that the dominant, that is, the submissive pose of the confederate will be the trigger for dominant behavior only in the more dominant female subjects. All personality traits except extraversion are significantly associated with one or more variables of dominant or submissive behavior during dyadic interaction. Neuroticism, dominance, and prestige are the only personality traits that show correlation with the dominant behavior variable across multiple stages of the experiment. Neuroticism negatively correlates with arms behind back in two experimental situations, dominance positively correlates with pose akimbo in two experimental situations, while prestige negatively correlates with elbow distance in three experimental situations. Also, dominance and prestige are the only personality traits that show correlation with a composite of dominant behavior; dominance correlating positively with the composite and prestige negatively. The dominant, i.e., submissive, pose of the confederate did not prove to be the trigger for dominant behavior in any personality trait. However, dominant behavior increases with time in the more dominant respondents. As the only recent research that uses self-assessment measures and an objective measure of nonverbal behavior, these findings have important implications for further research on personality traits and nonverbal behavior.