How to “read” people’s character

• Pay attention to what others do and say.
• Pay attention to how they treat their parents, brothers and sisters, and other people.
• See them in real-life settings with family and friends.
• Think about how they behave when they’re working, upset, stressed, angry.
• See how they react when things don’t go their way.

Since you’ll probably attract people like yourself, do you understand why you need to work on developing positive and pleasant character qualities in yourself?

How to know if you should date someone
Eventually, when you want to start dating, your checklist should include things like:

Mutual respect
• Does he/she respect him or her-self as well as you?
• A person who has no self-control and wants to get sexually involved has a major character flaw, and probably has STD’s! This same person is likely to have had previous sexual partners and will dump you to have sex with others.

Similar values
• Does he/she believe in what you do?
• Does he/she practice what he/she “preaches”?

Similar long-term goals
• Does he/she want to drop out of school or get a good education? Goals are essential to have a good career!

Similar interests
• If you like sports, does he/she like them, too?

Conversation
• Would he/she rather talk to you in public or just “make out” in private?

Family
• What does your family think of him/her?
• What is his/her family like?
• How does his/her family treat people?

Friends
• What are their values and reputation?
• How do they treat others?
• Do they like to “look for trouble”?

How to know if you should get out of a relationship

• You just want to – you don’t have to have a reason!
• He/she wants to get sexually involved.
• He/she has a drinking problem or smokes marijuana.
• He/she uses illegal drugs.
• You’ve been hurt physically.
• You been hurt emotionally because she/he is critical of what you do or say.
• You feel like you can’t “be yourself” around him/her.
• You have nothing, or next to nothing, in common.
• He/she won’t talk to you in public but will “make out” with you in private.
• You’re afraid to express yourself or give your opinion.
• You discover he/she has a “history” of lying, cheating, etc.
• She/he flirts with other people.
• He/she stands you up twice or breaks up with you twice.
• You fight a lot of time.

©Copyright: PEERS (Peers Educating & Encouraging Relationship Skills)