The hens are very docile to people and tame really easily, especially with the popular varieties (black, white, BBRed). They're dedicated moms that will fiercely protect their brood. Hens can be mean to other chickens, but this generally isn't the case.
Males can be either sugar sweet or living terrors. Make sure to handle your males often, even then, they can be aggressive. I raise OEs and I just accepted the fact that the males are going to challenge me. Mine never full on fight, but they peck and let me know that they're in charge. They have such charming personalities though. That alone makes them well worth their occasional bad attitude.
Overall, the breed is very hardy. They handle cold well and are prolific layers of tiny cream eggs. Light colored varieties tend to suffer mites pretty badly, but for the most part they aren't a favorite host for mites. They have strong immunities. They also live for a looong long time, especially the hens (10 years is expected, 15+ is common).