Would a character with a social chameleon personality have a unstable upbringing?

Define a stable well-adjusted home. Some people who are born privileged grow up in unstable homes even though all of their needs are met. It's a given in the ghetto that there is a sense of unstable one-parent homes but sometimes the love and support are enough even in the struggle of poverty. So is the character a DNA sociopath or an environmental one?

 

I have been accused of being a chameleon by one of my very close friends. What it means is that you mirror your surroundings, at least to me. I pay a lot of attention to body language, pauses and verbal ticks. While I am hard of hearing and read lips, I do have some hearing. I hear the emphasis, on words, sometimes not the word that was spoken. A pause, word choice, tense. That added with the fact that I have to look directly at someone to communicate means that anyone I talk to, clearly understands that they have my full attention. I often have to wait until they finish a sentence before I can put together all of the pieces of the puzzle to understand what is being said. This is very well received by just about everyone. We all know what it is like to have someone be polite and just nod their head or be waiting for them to jump with what they want to say. These traits make me a good listener, it also means I chose my words carefully having understood what someone was either saying or what they meant to say, or how they really feel about something, that was not always conveyed in speech. We will talk about the things they want to talk about and what is important. I will alter my vocabulary to suit yours, I will use slang that you will more than likely use. My mannerisms will show me to be open and receptive to you as a person.

Now in all fairness, I have been in sales, and been successful been in politics. I also come from a large family 7 kids, and think that might have something to do with my ability to fit in. I have also made a real effort to learn body language, to read lips, to pay attention to words said, unsaid when speaking to someone. I feel very confident in social settings and talking to complete strangers. I guess this either makes me a good conversationalist or a sociopath.

 

Camouflage is protective coloring, patterning, smell, actions. Even people from stable backgrounds can experience uncertainty and anxiety later in life and adapt to those things by camouflaging themselves, becoming social chameleons. Some people become very comfortable with it, presenting one version of themselves in a business setting and another out on the beach with friends, reflecting the attitudes and expressions of whatever group they're in as opposed . Other people might become obsessively chameleon-like in order to get what they want from others, be it acceptance into a particular group or access to confidential files in the safe.

 

at the national level by any chance?

 

Well, it sounds like good sales skills and most likely good at influencing people. That does not make one a sociopath. People do adjust themselves to the environment they are in, some do it better than others.

 

No, small town. I was an advocate of term limits, so when my 8 years were up I figured I had served.