As a child, Goten is a fun-loving and kind-hearted person like his father. However, thanks to his mother's structured upbringing, he tends to show more common sense and proper manners than his father did as a child (even in some cases as an adult). While still being forced to study hard like his older brother by their mother, having mellowed out following Goku's death, Chi-Chi allowed Goten to have more freedom to explore his own interests than Gohan did growing up; Chi-Chi even took it upon herself to train Goten in the martial arts. This allowed him to develop love for play-fighting and bug catching.

He is also somewhat mischievous, due to being influenced by his best friend Trunks and joins him in their many antics. Between Trunks and himself, he is surprisingly the voice of reason, though he usually goes along with the former's ideas. Goten is also well mannered (like his father), as he always bows before he faces someone in a fight. He looks up to and greatly admires his older brother Gohan (he was the only person who finds Gohan's embarrassing Great Saiyaman Suit to be "cool"). When Trunks had blamed the tournament intermission on Gohan's defeat in the previous match, Goten quickly became agitated and aggressive towards the other in an attempt to defend his older brother's honor. However, in Dragon Ball Super, his opinion of Great Saiyaman has changed, as he rejects a Great Saiyaman costume that Gohan had made for Goten, considering it lame and showing that his tastes have changed.