Harvard University has been accused of racism against Asian students because of perceived negative personality traits, according to court documents filed on Friday.

The 388-year-old institution is being sued by Students for Fair Admissions, an action group, for discriminating against Asian applicants.

The group commissioned an analysis of more than 160,000 applicants who applied for admission from 2000 to 2015, which showed that Asians were given lower scores on “personality” traits - likability, courage, kindness and being “widely respected”.

It argues that if admitted on academic merit alone, the intake of Asian students at the prestigious university would be much higher.

Ted Lieu, a congressman for California, blasted Harvard for appearing to "attribute personality traits based on race." He called the report “outrageous”, adding that “it feeds into historical damaging stereotypes about Asian-Americans.”