Characters and situations

CaroGirl said:

Do you think real people behave differently depending on their situation and circumstances? I have a character whose behaviour changes somewhat when his situation changes, and I'm hoping it comes across as realistic.

I can give an example if this seems too vague. What are your thoughts?

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Yup, definitely. But don't take my word on it, I'm no psychologist.
BTW, it would be better if you gave an example.

Sounds reasonable to me. It's not so much a change in behavior (as I see it, anyway), as it is a self-preservation thing. He needs the comfort his girl can give, and his new situation has shown him that. So it's character growth.

Is she going to leave him now?

Oh, people absolutely change their behavioral patterns depending on the situations they're in. This is especially true in the situation you describe. We behave differently around people whom we perceive to be younger/older, more/less experienced or knowledgeable. We're social animals and we're always trying to establish our place in any given social hierarchy. Like Meerkat Manor

Absolutely. Arrogant people are often insecure anyway, and if he's put in a situation where he's not the alpha male, I think that behavior is reasonable.

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me! He moves from a position of dominance to one of (sort of) submission, or at least instability. I can see how he'd change his behavior. Especially if the girlfriend has moved with him and the older guy has shown interest in her. He might feel a need to fight for her attention.

Character change is often the best way to show character growth. And remember, please, this is fiction, not a news account. Real-life responses can't always do the job of plot movement and character development. I think your illustration is credible and makes for reader empathy, which is what you want.

Sounds reasonable to me. Good question.

Most people have their "securities" and insecurities, and they are all highly context dependent, although superimposed on a base personality. I see you're going to present this from the POV of the girlfriend. Don't avoid having the man test his position in the relationship, probe her determination and mettle. Such probing is a good source of tension, not only for the girl, but also for the guy, and it can create a nice subplot, or at least a tense undercurrent for the story. It could even be good to bring back the former roommates for a visit to let the guy puff his chest for a while (and get his confidence up for another try at the girl). Maybe you're already there, but I can see several ways to play this up.

This sounds like normal human behavior to me. Have fun with it !

People behave differently in every situation. Something minor (eating at a different restuarant they aren't comfortable with) to something major (gun to the forehead). People behave differently as a rule of thumb. They also are not always witty and clever or selfless. You can have a lot of fun there.

Be careful. Don't just make your characters react based on what a person would normally do.

I can think of several personality types that would act superior among the younger folks, and cower in the presence of the dangerous guy, sure.

But I can also think of a few who would merely amplify their arrogance around the dangerous guy. In this case your character might position his girlfriend as a "mutual enemy," just so he could have some common ground with the dangerous guy.

Others would act like a mean older brother around the young people, and interestingly enough would switch to "father-figure" behavior around someone who intimidated them.

In any case, their behavior does change, but you have to know why. For every character. Find the root.

Ditto what everyone said.

Your example sounds like the character's very realistic, which I like. I can picture someone who would act like that, it sounds normal given the circumstances - change of status, false security shattered when surrounded by a different kind of people.

In fact, I don't believe anybody can act the same in all situations. Because we're not quite these nice, perfectly logical and balanced beings - not only are we unable to do the 'right' thing at all times, we are unable to do what we think characterises us in all situations. And that's because the self is always growing and changing through circumstances and life; you could say we are many different things at once, we have the potential to become a lot of things and there are so many opposites in us that our growth is practically just reconciling those tendencies and developing them harmoniously (if you're lucky, that is ).

That's completely off-topic, but I felt like rambling. Imo it seems like you're taking the best approach, CaroGirl, so good luck with it.

Sounds like the switch from Grade 8 to Grade 9... Top of the heap in elementary, bottom of the pile in high school. The Grade 9's who try to strut as if they were still running the show are severely mocked by the older students.