I don't know why they have personalities. It could be that they're deliberately given them, but I'd guess that it's actually a bi-product of the advanced AI. Why? Well, C-3P0 is annoying, jittery, and cowardly (not traits you would want in your droid), and R2-D2 is headstrong and rebellious (and rude), and you *definitely* don't want a droid with those traits.
They are bought and sold with no moral problem for even the purest hero, so I'd say they're like smartphones: property. Slavery seems to be rampant in the Star Wars universe, but the heroes don't like it, so that gives us an idea of where they are, property-wise.
Socially, they were kicked out of the cantina. So some people don't like them. They're treated as friends by those closest to them, but that's probably the same way people get sentimental about, for example, a car or a guitar - amplified by the fact that you can converse with them.
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