Argh, I fail at wording things. I meant it more along the lines of when a character is exhibiting a particular (usually negative) characteristic, your narrative will take note of that and acknowledge it. I think it's something I do as well, mainly because I live in fear of someone being all "UM X CHARACTER WAS BEING SUPER RUDE, WHAT'S WITH THAT." So if anything, I think it's the cautious way to go, and I definitely don't think it's excessive.