Ultimately, it's about survival at the start.
Yea, I take a very similar approach with my characters.
There's a sense of desperation and urgency in the beginning, and as that starts to wane and they gain confidence in their companions and capabilities they feel less pressured to just Survive, which affords them the luxury of making choices that aren't as selfish, cowardly, or dismissive as they may have been at the start.
Character growth is fun.
Minthara very much made my Tav worse tho, because they were willing to do anything she asked, so there's that. But growing in the "wrong" direction is fun too.
