What are the likes and dislikes of the companions?

It's pretty easy to see what Piper enjoys, as I'm currently lock picking my way into her heart. I haven't seen anything that she doesn't like so far. What things do all of the companions like / dislike, so I can make sure never to do those things.

Below, you will find information on each companions general likes and dislikes. I have also included their respective companion perks, in case this is a deciding factor on which companions a particular user wishes to focus on a relationship with.

A majority of the information has been summarised from the companions respective Fallout Wiki page. A lot of it is self-explanatory. A companions perspective on chems will dictate their feelings towards giving chems to Mama Murphy, and convincing her to get off them.

In most cases, a companion approving or disapproving of a faction or general race (for example, favoring The Minutemen, or disapproving of Synths) will effect their corresponding reaction to dialogue, actions and interactions with members of the respective faction or general class.

In most cases, a companion approving of being helpful will favor charitable actions, while a companion disapproving of charitable actions will approve of greedy actions. For example, charitable companions do not like it when you ask for a reward.

For more information, check each companions linked page, under "Effects of player's actions".

Cait

Full approval grants the Trigger Rush perk, giving the player an increase in action point regeneration, when the player is below 25% health.

Approval

• Picking locks or stealing.
• Chems, before her personal quest, and addictol, after her personal quest.
• Alcohol, before her personal quest.
• Violent behaviour.
• Mean or threatening dialogue.
• Being naked.
• Asking for rewards for helping others.
• Choosing not to join the Brotherhood of Steel
• Stopping the Institute.
• Destroying the Railroad.

Disapproval

• Chems, after her personal quest.
• Dialogue that avoids fighting.
• Helping people.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• Cannibalism.
• Killing non-hostile NPCs.
• Flirting with other characters, once you are in a romance with her.
• Telling Miss Edna that children need love, in Diamond City.
• Selling Billy to Bullet.

Codsworth

Full approval grants the Robot Sympathy perk, giving the player a bonus of +10 energy resistance, against robots.

Approval

• Responsible and lawful acts.
• Helping others.
• Family-orientated dialogue.
• Prevention of death.
• Crafting modifications.

Disapproval

• Asking for money for helping others.
• Dishonest dialogue.
• Chems.
• Accepting the order to hunt Paladin Danse.
• Stealing.
• Murder.

Curie

Full approval grants the Combat Medic perk, which allows the player to heal 100 hit points once a day, if below 10% health.

Approval

• Helping others.
• Dialogue favoring peace, reason or compassion.
• Dialogue favoring robotics.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• Asking for a reward for delivering the pristine Deathclaw egg.
• Synths.
• Killing Gunner leaders.
• The Railroad.
• Sparing Dance during the quest Blind Betrayal.

Disapproval

• Asking for a reward for most quests.
• Returning the pristine Deathclaw egg to its nest.
• Violence against NPCs, other then ghouls and super mutants.
• Dialogue favoring violence or aggression.
• Dishonest behaviour.
• The Institute.
• Killing a neutral Mister Gutsy / Mister Handy.
• The town of Covenant.
• Becoming addicted to chems.

Danse

Full approval grants the Know Your Enemy perk, which gives the player a bonus of +20% damage, against ghouls, super mutants and synths.

Approval

• Power armor.
• Vertibirds.
• The Minutemen.
• Dialogue favoring reason.
• Helping others.
• Being spared, during the quest Blind Betrayal.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• Crafting weapon, armor or power armor upgrades.

Disapproval

• Super mutants.
• Ghouls.
• Synths.
• Bribing.
• Chems.
• Cannibalism.
• Dialogue regarding synths.
• Attacking non-hostile NPCs.
• Building artillery for the Minutemen.
• Picking the locks of owned containers.
• Flirting with other characters, once you are in a romance with him.

Deacon

Full approval grants the Cloak & Dagger perk, which gives the player a bonus +40% to the duration of Stealth Boys, and a bonus +20% damage to sneak attacks.

Approval

• Lockpicking.
• Hacking.
• Helping people.
• Resolving conflict through passive means.
• Synths.
• The Railroad.

Disapproval

• Asking for rewards for helping people.
• Attacking non-hostile NPCs.
• Chems.
• Cannibalism.
• Covenant.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.

Dog(meat)

Dogmeat does not gain approval, and will love you, no matter what. As a result, there is no perk associated with gaining Dogmeat's approval. However, Dogmeat will benefit from the Attack Dog perk, and does not count as a companion for the purposes of the Lone Wanderer perk.

John Hancock

Full approval grants the Isodoped perk, which gives the player a bonus +20% to the fill rate of the critical meter, provided the player's rads are at 250 or higher.

Approval

• Chems.
• Harmful or cruel action towards those that deserve it.
• Helping or defending the innocent.
• The Minutemen.
• The Railroad.
• Naked fast-traveling.

Disapproval

• Stealing.
• Greed.
• Cruelty towards those that do not deserve it.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• The Institute.
• Convincing the Vault-Tec rep to leave Goodneighbour.
• Flirting with others while in a relationship.

Nick Valentine

Full approval grants the Close to Metal perk, which gives the player an extra attempt when hacking, and reduces the lockout time for failing a terminal by 50%.

Approval

• Helping others.
• Hacking.
• Resolving conflicts peacefully.
• Dialogue favoring synths.
• The Railroad.

Disapproval

• Dialogue favoring aggression or threatening behavior.
• Stealing.
• Murder.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• Cannibalism.
• Greed.
• Picking an owned lock.
• Covenant.

Piper Wright

Full approval grants the Gift of Gab perk, which gives the player doubled experience for finding locations, persuading people, and lock-picking.

Approval:

• Helping the innocent.
• Lockpicking non-owned locks.
• The Minutemen.
• Resolving conflicts peacefully.
• The Railroad.
• Telling the truth.

Disapproval:

• Stealing.
• Lying.
• Lockpicking owned locks.
• Covenant.
• The Institute.
• Dialogue favoring aggression or threatening behavior.
• Chems.
• Murder.
• Asking for rewards.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• Cannibalism.
• Flirting, if the player is in a relationship with her.

Preston Garvey

Full approval grants the United We Stand perk, which gives the player a bonus +20% damage, and increases damage resistance by 20, when facing 3 or more enemies at one.

Approval

• Helping the innocent.
• Building weapon modifications.
• Being honest.
• The Minutemen.
• The Railroad.

Disapproval

• Using the Fat Man.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• Covenant.
• Asking for rewards.
• Chems.
• Cannibalism.
• The Institute.
• Destroying the Institute without issuing an evacuation order.
• Stealing.

Robert MacCready

Full approval grants the Killshot perk, which gives the player a bonus +20% chance to perform a head shot in V.A.T.S.

Approval

• Asking for rewards.
• Sarcasm.
• The Minutemen.
• Criminal action.
• Helping children or parents.
• General mercenary behavior.

Disapproval

• Taking the moral high ground.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.
• The Railroad.
• Helping others.
• Asking for too much money (the red option, when asking for rewards).
• Unprovoked violence.
• Being caught during an illegal act.

Strong

Full approval grants the Berserk perk, which gives the player a bonus +20% to melee damage, if they are below 25% health.

Approval

• Helping others.
• Taking the aggressive path over the peaceful path.
• Taking less-reputable quests.
• Cannibalism
• Stealing useful items

Disapproval

• Lockpicking.
• Hacking.
• Power armor.
• Using charisma-check dialogue.
• Chems.
• Taking reputable quests.
• The Brotherhood of Steel.

X6-88

Full approval grants the Shield Harmonics perk, which gives the player a bonus +20% to energy resistance.

Approval

• Power armor.
• The Institute.
• Hacking.
• Creating weapon or armor modifications.
• Asking for more rewards.

Disapproval

• Helping others.
• Being naked.
• Vertibirds.
• Chems.

You can find the likes and dislikes of each companion on their respective page on the Fallout wikia.

Below you'll find some general guidelines and repeatable actions that affect companions' approval. Beside these general guidelines, companions like and dislike specific choices. For instance, Valentine likes giving Piper an interview, Cait likes keeping the Brew Buddy, and so on. You can find a list of specific choices people have noted on the characters' respective wiki pages. The lists on the wiki will likely continue to be updated with more specifics over time, so I would encourage you to look there as well.

Cait

Likes picking locks, doing certain chems, and generally mean and violent behavior. Cait's attitude toward chems can be permanently affected by a certain quest. Dislikes killing non-hostile targets, helping any main faction beside the Brotherhood, and avoiding fights.

Codsworth

Likes being lawful and helpful, loves crafting new mods. Dislikes being greedy or dishonest and irresponsible actions like chem addiction.

Curie

Likes supportive and selfless dialog and quest choices. Dislikes asking for extra money, stealing, unnecessary violence. Hates flirting with others.

Paladin Danse

Loves dedication to the Brotherhood and crafting mods. Likes entering power armor, helping settlers, and being reasonable. Dislikes ghouls, bribes, drugs, synths.

Deacon

Likes picking locks, hacking terminals, helping people, and nonviolent resolutions. Dislikes asking for more money and chems.

Dogmeat

As the wiki page puts it: "Dogmeat loves the Sole Survivor unconditionally, and thus is neither negatively nor positively influenced by their actions."

John Hancock

Loves defending the innocent and fast-traveling naked, apparently. Likes chems, hurting people who deserve it. Dislikes stealing, cruelty, being greedy.

Robert MacCready

Likes sarcasm, helping children or parents, and mercenary behavior (like asking for more money). Dislikes the Brotherhood and the Railroad, asking for too much money (last red option), and taking the moral high ground. Hates getting caught committing crimes.

Nick Valentine

Likes selfless and kind acts and hacking terminals. Dislikes threats, stealing, and murder.

Piper

Likes picking locks, helping innocents, and a mix of sarcasm and honesty. Dislikes stealing, lying, intimidation, greed, and the Institute.

Preston Garvey

Likes customizing weapons and helping others, especially settlers. Dislikes using the fatman, asking for money, satisfying an addiction. Hates stealing.

Strong

Likes helping others, being violent and aggressive, doing shady stuff. Disapproves of picking locks, hacking terminals, entering power armor, and persuading with charisma.

X6-88

Likes entering power armor, assisting the Institute, hacking, mods, and successfully demanding caps. Dislikes helping others, being naked, and using chems.