Character habits and attitudes

From Gordian Plot

Eating habits

Diet: Veggies, grass, red meat, raw meat, fish, likes sweets, low fat diet, diabetic diet, low carb diet, low sugar diet, vegetarian, vegan, greasy food, junk food, health food, fad diet, always eats the same thing, eats a limited number of things, binges on one thing or another, mostly the same thing with occasional variation, eats a variety of things, experiments wildly, tries things not normally regarded as edible

Manner of cooking: slow, frantic, sloppy, cleans as he cooks, leaves the mess for later, never cooks, cooks simple things, can cook a few dishes well, barbecues, boils everything, bakes, makes no cooking dishes like salad, takes cooking seriously, enjoys cooking, hates cooking

Manner of eating: neat, messy, well mannered, fast, diligent, bulimic, eats compulsively, problems maintaining his weight, wolfing, picking, furtive, gormond, shameful, gluttonous, disdainful, reflective, disinterested, dissecting, coinsuring, distracted.

How often does he eat out: Every meal, daily, weekly, monthly, rarely, never. Favorite restaurants or eating places: Fast food restaurant, Dumpster behind fast food restaurant. Dive with good food, classy with good food, place with good view. Greasy spoon, classy with micro portions, weird specialty, guy who sells food out of trunk, hot dog stand, bar, sports bar, ice-cream parlor, coffee shop, bookstore coffee shop, movie theater, cafeteria,

Where does he sit: where the waiter seats him, near the window, away from the window, near the bathroom, where he can peer in to the kitchen, in an isolated booth, at a crowded communal table How do the employees and other customers interact with him? Knows people by name, orders the usual, never tips, over tips, talks on his cell phone, scolds other diners for there misbehavior, regards getting into a fight as part of the dining experience,
Sleeping habits

How long does he sleep and how does this make him feel?: tends to lay in bed, gets up right away, has difficulty sleeping, afraid to sleep, a night owl, awake or asleep anytime, noon napper, a morning person, round the clock napper, heavy sleeper, sleeps with eyes open, needs a lot of sleep, needs little sleep, always sleepy, takes a long time to fully wake up.

Dreams: remembers his dreams, repetitive dreams, nightmares, dreams of events from his past, dreams of his future, wishful dreams, dreams of his fears, symbolic dreams.

Toilet habits: regular, irregular, likes to mark his territory, messes up public bathrooms, needs to have an enema to take a shit, incontinent, can only use his own toilet, goes where the urge takes him, fascinated by excretion, unusually strong disgust or fear of excrement

Grooming-bathing-personal cleanliness-makeup: frequent washing, never baths, spackled on makeup, Well-groomed,

Attitude toward liquor and drugs

Drugs: Beer, wine, strong liquor, cigarettes, cigars, marijuana, methamphetamine, crack, opium, powdered coke, heroin, designer drugs, steroids, prescription drugs, caffeine How often? Addictions? How does he rationalize it? How has he been paying for them, what has he been sacrificing?

What prompts him to use: to overcome shyness, gain confidence, to escape his problems

When has he used drugs or drink?: First thing in the morning, At work or school, at a particular time every day, when alone, With people, puts himself in dangerous situations, feels compelled to keep using or drinking once started? has blackouts, health problems, unaware of health risks, lies about how often he uses drugs or alcohol, hidden it from family and friends. in trouble with the police. Causes problems with his family, work or school, bad reputation, Has been in treatment, Has unsuccessfully tried to stop? has felt guilty or sad because of drinking or drug taking, feels he should quit, or at least cut down? Have any of his friends or family members abused drugs or alcohol? How much was he exposed as a child?

Social habits and roles

Caste/class: Aristocratic, courtier, military, priestly, merchant, craftsman, servant, farmer, peasant, rouge, beggar, prostitute, slave, money mogul, old money, neuvaux riche, working class, middle class, professional class, upper crust,

Class attitude/Response to society?: Gives orders, takes orders, respected, despised, resigned, content, defiant, rebellious, defensive, alienated, part of group

Role in society: nerd, bad boy, good boy, snob, slob, know it all, care taker, martyr, soldier, victim, playboy, sex object, loyal retainer, jackal, noble leader, boss, bully, thug, surfer, debauched addict, Highbrow or lowbrow, parent or child, jester, seeker, eternal failure, misunderstood artist, charmer, amused at self, painful self image, member of group or clique, shifting

How conscious is he of playing roles? Can he project an image at will: act? How convincingly? If he acts a role how much does he tend to forget the acting and fall into the role.

How much of a chameleon is he: how often and how smoothly does he slide from one role to another? Do people tend to believe him, or see him as a phony?

Five Factor Model types

The Five Factor Model is based on the five most important human differences in styles of interaction. (This is based on an analysis of language and seems to hold through different languages and cultures.) These are not types but a series of variable traits. They can be useful ways to think about your character’s personality.
1. Need for Stability (Neuroticism): How does a person respond to stress? This is rated on a scale from Resilient (calm & steady) to Reactive (Alert & Excitable). It includes such traits as sensitiveness, intensity and rebound time. It measures anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness & vulnerability.

2. Extraversion: Does the person prefer to be around other people or to be alone? This is rated on a scale from Extrovert (very social) to Introvert (alone, quiet, private). This includes such traits as enthusiasm, trust, and energy mode. It measures warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement-seeking, and positive emotions. (Not identical with the Meyers-Briggs use of introversion/extroversion.)

3. Originality: How open is the character to new ideas and experiences? This is rated on a scale from Explorer (creative, cutting edge) to Preserver (Maintains the status quo, detail oriented). It includes traits such as imagination, change, complexity and breadth of view. It measures openness to fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas and values.

4. Accommodation (agreeableness): How tolerant and accepting of others is the character? This refers to the degree to which we defer to others. This is rated on a scale from Challenger (Expressive, competitive) to Adapter (Tolerant, accepting). It includes traits such as agreeableness, service, deference and reticence. It measures trust, straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty and tender-mindedness.

5. Consolidation: (conscientiousness) How does the character approach goals? This refers to the degree to which we push toward goals at work. This is rated on a scale from Focused (disciplined, dependable) to Flexible (relaxed, multi-tasking). It includes such traits as perfectionism, drive and concentration. This measures competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline and deliberation.

Meyers Briggs types

These are 16 types based on a Jungian analysis. Each type has its strengths and weaknesses, its typical relationships and careers. They are directly related to the Kiersey Temperament types. There is an immense amount of information about each type on the internet.

ISTJ: Duty Fulfiller, inspector guardian (Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging)
ISTP: The Mechanic, Crafter Artisan (Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving)
ISFJ: The Nurturer, Protector Guardian (Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging)
ISFP: The Artist, Composer Artisans (Introverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving)
INFJ: The Protector, Counselor Idealists (Introverted, Intuitive feeling judging)
INFP: Healer Idealist (Introverted Intuitive Feeling Perceiving)
INTJ: The Scientist , Rational Mastermind (Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging)
INTP: Thinker, Architect of Rationality (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving)
ESTP: The Doer, Promoter Artisan (Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving)
ESTJ: The Guardian, Supervisor (Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging)
ESFP: The Performer, Performer Artisan (Extraverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving)
ESFJ: The Caregiver, Provider Guardian (Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging)
ENFP: The Inspirer, Champion Idealist (Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving)
ENFJ: The Giver Teacher Idealist Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging
ENTP: The Visionary Inventor Rational (Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving)
ENTJ: The Executive, FieldMarshal Rational (Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging)

Keirsey types

RATIONAL NTs
Theoretical, intellectual, analytical, systematic, complex, inventive, autonomous, self-willed, efficient, curious, research-oriented.
Knowledge-seeking. Good at science, engineering, inventing, organizing.

IDEALIST NFs
Humane, sympathetic, enthusiastic, creative, intuitive, subjective, cooperative, spiritual. Identity-seeking. Good at interpersonal diplomacy and trying to bring wholeness to others.

ARTISAN SPs
Artistic, adaptable, athletic, open-minded, non-theoretical, easygoing, tolerant, tool lovers, joyful. Sensation-seeking. On the lookout for whatever or whoever is exciting, pleasurable or useful.

GUARDIAN SJs
Stable, consistent, cooperative, conservative, factual, dependable and thorough. They take care of people, institutions and schedules; everything is kept within bounds, all actions are supervised, everyone’s needs are met.

Sheldon’s types

Endomorph
Physical: They tend to be round with wide hips and narrow shoulders, which makes them rather pear-shaped. They are focused on the digestive system, particularly the stomach . (Their large intestine can be double the length of that of an ectomorph.) Deep breathing from abdomen; slow reactions based on a slower metabolism.

Psychological: Social extroversion; Fun-loving; Love of food; Tolerant; Even-tempered and good humored; Relaxed and slow moving; love of comfort; has a need for affection, and is typified as the ‘barrel of fun’ person. They can have problems with their need for affection and in phobias.

Social: Social stimulation enjoyed and needed to bring them out from their focus on the digestive system. Groups of people draw out their energy and make them feel alive. They both show affection readily and crave it for themselves. Their emotions flow readily and easily out to others. They are knowledgeable and well adapted in the social world. The barrel-of-fun type person. They are oriented out to the world through their senses. (Picture of Santa Claus)

Mesomorph
Physical: Large head, broad shoulders and narrow waist (wedge-shaped or rectangular shaped). Focused on musculature and the circulatory system. Strong forearms and thighs, Very little body fat, thick skin tending toward coarseness, hair is basically heavy-textured, upright posture. The chest area dominates over the abdominal area Their voices carry and sometimes boom out as if speech were another form of exercise.

Psychologically: Adventurous, Courageous, Indifferent to what others think or want, Assertive/bold, always ready for physical activity, Competitive, With a desire for power/dominance, And a love of risk/chance; extravert, with relatively little grasp of his inner self ; an extraversion of action. Women on the whole tend to have less mesomorphy than men and more endomorphy. They can have problems with narcissism and dominance issues.

Socially: Extraverted toward action, getting things done. Decisions without inhibitions. He is stable, predictable and hardheaded; competitive; They can be insensitive and aggressive. (Superman)

Ectomorph
Physical: Narrow shoulders and hips, thin legs and arms, facial features are sharp and fragile with a high forehead, thin and narrow chest and abdomen, delicate build, young appearance, Very little body fat focused on the nervous system and the brain , long fingers, toes and neck, fine and fast-growing hair, quick onset of hunger and a quick satiation of it

Psychological: Self-conscious, Private, Introverted, Inhibited, Artistic, Intense, emotionally restrained, thoughtful, introverted, highly developed self-awareness, finely-tuned receptive system sensitive to stimulation, a great deal of curiosity moving from one interest to another; a distaste for alcohol, drugs, resistant to hypnosis, rich dream and fantasy life, they seek privacy and solitude in order to try to work out the difficulty. Strong intuitive sense based on the broad inner consciousness from which intuition springs. They can have problems with depression and lack of self-confidence.

Social: shrinks from crowds, likes small, protected places, loves privacy, and intellectual or mental stimulation, uncomfortable with small conventional talk and general idle conversation, often out of touch with own senses, difficulty in forming routines and habits, don’t want much but become quite attached to what they have and often are affectionately attached to material things, some difficulties with sexuality, have a feel of not being part of this earth.