Background: The pleasant and sociable personality of children with Down syndrome (DS) has received a fair amount of attention in the literature. This study examined the disposition of adolescents and adults with DS, while attempting to control for psychopathology. Method: Individuals with DS were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of psychopathology, and compared to two groups of individuals with nonspecific ID on the 15 subscales of the Reiss Profile MR/DD. Participants across groups were individually matched on gender, level of ID, CA, and severity of psychopathology. Results: Few differences across groups emerged at the subscale and item levels. No differences were found on the Social Contact subscale. Conclusions: Motivational profiles across groups with and without DS were quite similar when psychopathology was taken into consideration.