The Psychology of Character Development
Introduction
Humans are not social by accident. We have literally been wired that way. This is not just an idea, this is a well-established fact across the evolutionary, biological, and psychological fields. Isolation feels painful for a reason! It once signaled danger because we needed to be in groups to increase our chances of survival. When readers connect to characters, it’s because the characters reflect something that is deeply human. It makes them real. The psychology of how humans work is the entire basis for building what is often referred by readers as “characters who feel 3D.” Writers often try to make characters “unique” but what makes them truly believable is their universal humanity!
Every resource I mention is linked at the bottom of this post.
The Tribal Brain: Why Humans Are Social
Did you know there are scientific studies that show that there is an optimal number of friends to maximize your well being? Interesting that most typical books central group of characters is never far from this number. (Resources #s 1 and 2.)
Humans are born literally only surviving because of depending on another human. While not every species on the planet goes through this, a large enough portion of them do that enough people questioned and studied it extensively. (Reference #5.) Even if you stay home and think you are independent, you still rely on others. Do you get things delivered? Do you go online? Chat in comment sections? Like videos? Repost videos? Do you go shopping at stores run and maintained by other humans? Make posts on social media and get excited when you get likes on it? That is being social. That is driven by the need to connect with other people. Did you read a blog like this to learn something? Watch a video to understand a topic better? That’s from other people, you realize that right? Again. Being social does not just mean “talking someone’s ear off” or “clinging desperately to their arms” just as needing human companionship does not make one “needy.” Being social means living in groups and allowing knowledge to be passed down through generations. That is how we have survived and expanded as we have today.
The typical “loner” characters are not interesting for readers because they are alone and that need does not exist. They are interesting because they still have that need, but are driven by their fears, trauma, mistrust, or rejection. Loner characters do not instantly somehow magically mean that need for social connections is nonexistent. (Unless, of course, they are cursed to be so. That’s different though, that’s removing the natural human need in order to remove resistance.) Typically in these situations, there is always some supporting character in some way that “cures their isolation.” Note something interesting there? Even in those situations, people will end up in groups. Gee. I wonder why.
That’s because, again to emphasize, the human need to be social is as basic a need as food and water.
Belonging and Identity: The Power of Role
In early societies (funny the society word is here again) every person had a role to fill. They had a job. Something to do that not only ensured that they survived, but that the group as a whole survived. For these societies, being isolated meant death in most cases.
One thing a lot of readers want to see are character arcs. They want to see how the characters develop and change from the beginning to the end of the story. If a character does not change, the readers notice. Change for characters…. Is psychology….. (Reference #9).
Example. As characters navigate through their roles in the group, their need for belonging drives growth, conflict, and eventual change. Just as it would in real life. This idea that characters are not allowed to show basic human needs in terms of social needs and motivations, goes against the very process of creating a story.
Character growth within books can be divided into two terms any writer will know. Intrinsic factors versus extrinsic factors. If intrinsic and extrinsic factors are the key to compelling character growth, how could a character’s need for social connection ever make them ‘needy?’
Needy, though by definition simply means being in want, or marked by want of affection, attention, or emotional support, the societal definition varies GREATLY. Organizations come together to help the needy families. Religious texts often mention caring for “the poor and the needy.” In social context, needy is a negative word. We often call people needy who want to cling to others because they lack independence. These facts change the entire perception and use of the word. A character simply having the humanistic trait of wanting social connection does not make a character needy. A character who wants connection is simply human, not needy.
If anything, it shows that a character has that 3D feeling. Writers who are not afraid to build characters who are bluntly human, are writers who understand that this builds a readers connection with a character.
Conclusion
Psychology is already in every fictional book. Detailing how characters feel, or what drives them into action is psychology. Psychology is by Britannica’s definition, the “scientific discipline that studies mental states and processes and behavior in humans and other animals.” (Resource #10.) In order to know how your character will react in a given situation, you have to know everything about them. You. Have. To. Be. A. Mini. Psychologist. You have to read. You have to research. You have to understand how people work in general to be able to write a character that readers will respond to. You cannot just dismiss a section of psychology when it comes to creating stories.
References
This is not an English paper. I’m giving you links.
(1) On M-Polynomials of Dunbar Graphs in Social Networks: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/12/6/932
(2) Why friendship and loneliness affect our health: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11918532/#nyas15309-bib-0052
(3) Self-determination theory: A quarter century of human motivation research: https://www.apa.org/research-practice/conduct-research/self-determination-theory
(4) Self-Determination Theory (an overview): https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/theory/
(5) ASU on Why are humans social creatures: https://news.asu.edu/b/20250421-why-are-humans-social-creatures#:~:text=%E2%80%9CHumans%20are%20wired%20for%20social,the%20benefits%20of%20being%20social?%E2%80%9D
(6) Social Connection can transform our whole health and well-being: https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/connection/index.html?utm_source=osg_redirect&utm_medium=osg_redirect&utm_campaign=osg_sg_gov_connection
(7) Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
(8) The Science of Being Social: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/science-being-social#:~:text=%E2%80%9COur%20brains%20are%20wired%20to,model%20for%20understanding%20human%20behavior.
(9) How to Use Psychology to Create Compelling Characters: https://thewritepractice.com/psychology-and-writing-characters/#:~:text=Let%20Your%20Character%20Arc,it%20in%20the%20comments%20section.
(10) Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/science/psychology