SUPPORTIVE
DEFINITION:providing encouragement and assistance to others

CATEGORIES:interactive, moral

SIMILAR ATTRIBUTES:encouraging, sympathetic

POSSIBLE CAUSES:
Having a helpful, generous nature
Being highly empathetic and intuitive
Having a caring nature
Having a nurturing disposition
Experiencing past help during a difficult time and knowing the necessity of support

ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS:
Being an attentive listener
Encouraging the dreams and aspirations of others
Using positivity to boost other people’s moods
Offering feedback or advice if asked
Smiling and making strong eye contact
Offering supporting gestures (touching an arm, hugging, squeezing a shoulder, etc.)
Making people feel valued and important by commenting on their best qualities
Donating time to others (charity work, doing favors, helping out, etc.)
Offering kind words to those in need:You always make good choices, Tim.
Integrity
Setting aside one’s own plans when someone is in need
Infusing one’s actions with a sense of peace
Trustworthiness
Being non-judgmental
Calling a friend just to check in
Bestowing pick-me-up gifts (bringing flowers to a sick friend, etc.)
Seeking opportunities to help (scouring work ads when a friend loses her job)
Putting the needs of a friend before one’s own needs
Telling people why they’re special
Avoiding criticism
Cheering for other people, no matter how small their successes
Introducing shy friends to others so they don’t have to reach out on their own
Offering gentle honesty when one’s opinion is requested
Speaking in a soft or encouraging tone
Focusing on what one can offer rather than how one can benefit
Trusting others
Sharing one’s experiences with others to show solidarity
Forgiveness
Being sensitive to the feelings of others
Protectiveness
Showing compassion
Validating another’s feelings:Of course you’re upset. Anyone in your position would be.
Providing tough love when needed
SayingI’m sorryin an effort to acknowledge someone’s pain
Asking what one can do to help
Handling smaller issues that crop up while a friend is incapacitated
Crying out of sympathy
Caring unconditionally

ASSOCIATED THOUGHTS:
Melinda is trying so hard. I’ll bake some cookies as a special after-school snack.
Justin was snappy today. Poor guy—his boss must be on the warpath again.
If Lisanne asks for the truth, I’ll tell her, but in a way that won’t hurt her feelings.
Poor Mom. Three dates and three guys who didn’t work out. Time for a girl’s night.

ASSOCIATED EMOTIONS:anguish, determination, disappointment, disbelief, love, sympathy

POSITIVE ASPECTS:Supportive characters make good partners and friends. They are there for the people around them, listening without judgment and doing whatever is needed. Natural cheerleaders, they encourage their loved ones to reach for their dreams and succeed. Supportive characters have caring natures and are trustworthy, making it possible for friends and co-workers to be vulnerable with them.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS:Sometimes supportive characters are weighed down by their friends’ collective need for a listening ear. This can make it difficult for them to remain positive. If others are always looking for help due to one calamity or another, there is no give-and-take, which can make supportive characters feel unappreciated and resentful—neither of which are good for relationships.

EXAMPLE FROM FILM:When her long-term fiancé accepts his first case as a lawyer, Mona Lisa Vito (My Cousin Vinny) accompanies him to the deep South. As he bumbles his way through the murder case, Lisa supports him by reading his law books and sharing important bits of legal advice, snapping pictures of the crime scene, and making sure he’s suitably attired for court. She’s out of her element, both in the courtroom and in Alabama, but she sticks with her man and ends up as the star witness, providing the key piece of evidence that breaks the case in their favor.Other Examples from Film:Lynn Sear (The Sixth Sense), George (Erin Brockovich), Scott Pritchard (No Way Out), Goose Bradshaw (Top Gun)

TRAITS IN SUPPORTING CHARACTERS THAT MAY CAUSE CONFLICT:disloyal, pessimistic, reckless, selfish, uncooperative, ungrateful

CHALLENGING SCENARIOS FOR THE SUPPORTIVE CHARACTER:
PLOTLINE: Having a friend who is always on the verge of one disaster or another
PLOTLINE: Needing the support of others who are too busy or distracted to help
PLOTLINE: Being partially responsible for a friend’s hurt and having to confess
PLOTLINE: Finding oneself stuck in a situation fraught with drama and needing a way out