ok, so after testing, these approvals are farmable, and many others exist not listed here. for instance, since Shadowheart is the only cleric/healer I have, I want her around a lot. in camp at a point after she admits to being a cleric of shar, there's an option to ask her to tell you about herself, beyond tadpoles, etc. she says she likes orchids and can't swin. choose to ask her to spot orchids for you (option 1) and she will approve. exit all the way out and restart the conversation. you can farm this until maxed approval. unsure what that is, but so far i've seen: neutral - medium - high - very high - exceptional.

Is there any way to tell how much an Approval action is worth? I've noticed that if you pet Scratch over and over in camp, the companion approval prompt will show in the corner each time but so far I haven't been able to tell if it is actually doing anything.

There's one in Astarion's Approval Up thats wrong. 'Make Novice Crusher kiss your foot' is supposed to be 'Kiss his foot, for now' and then steal the ring off his foot (not sure if stealing the ring part is what gives the approval, or if just simply kissing it does.).

After that when walking towards the Heavy Oaken Doors that leads to the Shattered Sanctum a yellow question mark will appear above his head, you have to choose the last one answer in the dialog that says to enjoy the party and be careful of what blood he drinks.

Lae'zel approves of selling out Astarion to Gandrel. Damn cold.

If you swap characters before doing an action, is the approval based on the character who takes the action, or your player character?

astarion approves if you use persuasion in his dialogue after you kill laezel during the first dream sequence

Astarion approves if you use deception in the dialogue with the bird near idol in the grove

If you are a Cleric and select Shar as your deity you get extra dialog with Shadowheart as well as additional approval after discovering that she too is a follower of Shar via the Helm and statue of Selune near the Blighted Village.

The approval system is so similar to Dragon Age approval system.