3.3 Making a murderer
In the previous sections you explored the importance of both situational and dispositional factors in how we explain human behaviour, but do these feature in the creation of fictional characters, particularly those that undertake extraordinary behaviour, such as villains? In the video below Ian Rankin talks about his creative process, which is fascinating in itself, but also demonstrates that a fictional villain’s behaviour is not always simply a product of their personality. Instead, Ian discusses the necessary creative complexity involved in creating a believable and complex character, and how the author must not locate the cause of that behaviour simply through reference to either situational or dispositional factors.
Transcript
Activity 5 What a state I’m in
Think back to the favourite villain that you nominated at the start of this week or pick another one whom you feel you know well. Make a list of things you know about them. These can relate to how they live or to the ways they act. Once you have completed your list divide it into two columns. One column for the information that relates to the villain’s character or disposition and another column for information which relates to the situations they found themselves in. You may find that dividing them up gives you more to add in each column.
| Character or disposition | Situations |
|---|---|
It is likely that you may have written more about your villain’s character than you wrote about the situations they found themselves in. This is because of our tendency to see the actions of others as resulting from dispositional factors. In other words, we think the villain acts the way they do because of who they are (their personality) and not because of the situation they find themselves in. After all, we would never act like a villain even if we found ourselves in the same situation as them! This is the fundamental attribution error at work again. Take a look at your list and see if this was the case for your particular favourite villain.