The discussion of nature vs. nurture is something that can be applied to almost anything related to humans and their behaviors. When looking at personality, this process could not be more prominent since there is plenty of research to show that personality can be something an individual is essentially born with, as well as a combination of the social environment they were exposed to throughout their lifetime. According to the textbook, one of the greatest ways to show how personality is developed is to analyze the behavior of children, especially when it comes to their response to fear (Cervone & Pervin, 2013). The reason why this proves to be such an important factor in determining personality is because at such a young age, a child’s reaction …show more content…
Ever since I was young I have always been fairly shy, I am not one to start up conversations with people I do not know, and I tend to stick to a smaller group of friends as opposed to larger ones. As I have grown in college, I have seen myself becoming more outgoing, mostly due to the group of friends I currently associate with, but I am also still very much an independent and somewhat closed off person. My parents are both the same way; although they are outgoing when they need to be (meetings, work, etc.) they are both very much similar in the fact that they often keep to themselves, and prefer nights in together than going out with friends. Because I feel that my personality is so similar to my parents, it is easier for me to say that my personality may be more biological, though at times I do see where the environment I am in can have an effect on how I behave and engage with others around me. However, to the contrary of that, my little sister and I could not be more opposite when it comes to our personalities. She is very outgoing, has lots of friends, and always has to be doing something. Even though I can see a few traits she has received from my parents, I would argue that she is the way she is more because of the nature aspect of everything. Growing up as the younger sibling, she always felt like she had to prove herself, and make sure they my parents were also focusing on the things she was doing in her life. Because of this, she is much more attention seeking than I am, and she likes to push the boundaries. When she gets reactions from my parents or other people, she knows that they are seeing what she is doing, and that makes her feel important even if the reactions are negative. So that’s why this nature vs. nurture topic is so relevant to my life, because I have been able to see and
On October 9, 1968, a set of twins were born, but separated at birth and ultimately, put up for adoption. The decision to separate the twins came from the adoption agency who wanted to conduct a nature versus nurture experiment; however, the experiment was conducted in secret. However, for unknown reasons, the experiment never developed to fruition. Unaware the child they adopted was a twin; both sets of parents raised a singular child. Thirty-five years later, one twin began a search for her biological mother through the adoption agency, only to find out that she was born a twin. Upon learning her identity, she reached out to her twin and they began the journey of getting to know one another by comparing characteristics that appeared similar such as temperament and mannerism. They even discovered that they both held positions as a film critic and enjoyed almost identical movies.
Have you ever wondered, or thought where you have got your personality from? The debate over nature versus nurture is whether people like identical twins, for example, are born and raised by genetics,(nature) and if they are born and raised by influences and influenced by the environment around them(nurture). The debate over nature versus nurture is very important and cannot be ignored. Identical twins are different in many ways. Studies have shown that nurture, is more dominant than nature. My personality has also changed in many ways as I have been raised. So as you can see I am on the nurture side by far.
How does one person develop into the human that he or she is? Do his or her characteristics depend on the qualities he or she was born with? Or does his or her upbringing mold them into the person he or she becomes? The debate between nature and nurture is one that can be difficult to conclude and thus has been argued for centuries. Sheri S. Tepper explores this issue in her acclaimed novel The Gate to Women’s Country. The narrator of the work, Stavia, lives in a woman-dominated, post-apocalyptic country, where the women’s goal is to breed out the violent and murderous qualities that men are believed to possess. These women have an preconceived ideal people who are “CAPABLE of violence and ruthlessness, but very much in control of their tempers
Nature vs nurture has been an ongoing debate for many decades among some of the greatest minds in psychology. Everyone is trying to figure out the source of human personality. Does our personality develop primarily by genetics, known as nature or is it based off of our environment and the way we were raised, nature? I believe it is a bit of both, but in my opinion nurture plays a bigger role.
The quote from the famous psychologist John B. Watson essentially sums up behaviourism. Behaviourism refers to the school of psychology founded by Watson, established on the fact that behaviours can be measured and observed (Watson, 1993). In behaviourism, there is a strong emphasis that the acquisition of learning, or permanent change in behaviour, is by external manifestation. Thus, any individual differences in behaviours observed was more likely due to experiences, and not by the working of genes. As the quote suggest, any individuals can be potentially trained to perform any tasks through the right conditioning. There are two major types of conditioning, classical and operant conditioning (Cacioppo & Freberg, 2012).
Nature, the more scientific theory of the two, is the belief that hereditary traits found in our genes make us who we are, believable but not very convincing when we consider the theory of nurture. Human beings learn new things everyday, as soon as we come in to the world, our learning process begins. As a newborn baby, we slowly learn and adapt in order to survive in a new environment which is unlike that of our mothers wombs, our first environment in which we first grew, adapted to and developed in. The home environment parents and siblings play a huge role in determining personality. Influences from outside the family are also very important to the development of ones personality. But everything starts at home.
The nature versus nurture debate is an old issue within the field of psychology. “The nature-nurture issue is a perennial one that has resurfaced in current psychiatry as a series of debates on the role that genes (DNA) and environments play in the etiology and pathophysiology of mental disorders” (Schaffner) The debate is essentially about what is inherited (nature) and what is experienced by environmental factors (nurture) and how they affect human development. Naturally, the nature versus nurture debate relates to many controversies such as intelligence, gender identities, violent behaviors, and sexual orientation. There are countless studies on whether intelligence is an inherited trait or if it is influenced by environmental factors.
When we born, we all are like a blank slate (Uzgalis). Then, why are we the way we are? How the slate is filling? This answer will lead us to consider the decades of debate, nature vs nurture. In this age-old debate, scholars are trying to figure out whether it is nature or nurture influences and affects individual's development. Nature is heredity or genes that we get from our parents and nurture is our environment. We can't ignore, we share the DNA from our parents, but it is the environment that is filling the slate and shaping us. Again, environment is brighter in describing the shaping of a person because a person is a reflection of the environment of which they were brought up in. Here, environment refers to the experience, information, and knowledge that we acquire from our family, peers, school, neighborhood, and of course, from the media throughout our lifespan. So, I think, nurture has more influence on who we are and will be because our personality, behavior, values, and ideals are not born, but made by the environment around us.
The Meaning of Nature and Nurture in Psychology The nature nurture dichotomy is a theme always present in many areas
Nurture has a more stronger influence on your personality than nature does. They both have a huge role in contributing to your personality development, it is a proven fact. Identical twins have a lot of differences, but also many similarities. Your personality can keep changing while you're growing up. Studies have shown that your personality is based off your surroundings and how you have been raised. From now on when you watch how people act, be sure to remember this debate and think about what their personality is based
A website called “Daily Mail” titled “Is Personality Determined by Nature or Nurture?” was spot on. Author Nicola Rowe talked about a study that resembled my initial outlook on the subject. Minus a few minor details I agreed. Apparently “scientists found foster parents have a greater impact on personality than directly inherited genes from parents. Researchers at University of Hamburg used Zebra Finches to study how personality is transferred between offspring and
Nature vs nurture debate is an old argument, I believe that nature and nurture both work together. Your genes are something that you are born with but your experiences and how you were raised also make you the person you are today. Experiences and opportunities help you develop your personality. It also provides a valuable training ground for later life. Human culture, behavior, and personality are cause primarily by nature and nurture not nature or
Personality takes many shapes and forms and is affected by many factors. My understanding of personality is simply a genetic and environmentally determined set of psychological traits that influence our reactions in the world around us. Genetic because our parents possess a certain set of psychological personality traits that we tend to have in common with them so therefore in my opinion there are heritable personality traits. Personality is environmental because we each have our own separate experiences in the world and these experiences help form our unique personality. Neo-Freudians such as Jung have given us a wide array of ideas of how they believe personality is developed and formatted. Jung in particular has a very interesting
In the study of child development, nature and nurture are two essential concepts that immensely influence future abilities and characteristics of developing children. Nature refers to the genetically obtained characteristics and abilities that influence development while nurture refers to the surrounding environmental conditions that influence development. Without one or the other, a child may not develop some important skills, such as communication and walking. The roles of physiological and psychological needs in a person’s life are also crucial for developing children. Humanistic psychologist, Abraham Maslow, suggested that humans don’t only aim towards survival, but also aim towards self-actualization (Rathus, P. 94).
Developmental Psychology is an area which studies how we as humans change over the period of our life span. The majority of the focus is broken into three categories: cognitive, physical and social change. The creation of who we are today comes down to the everlasting debate of nature versus nurture. This ongoing debate of what makes us who we are and which one is the driving force in development may be so simple that it’s complex. Rather than it being a conflict of nature “versus” nurture, it is very well possible both play an equal part in the development of us as humans. In the beginning, we start off as single cell in the form of a zygote. In that moment, where the DNA begin to form and the first seconds of life take place, the zygote is already experiencing interaction with the womb. In the process of determining why we are who are it is better to look more at the interactions of nature and nurture, analyzing how both have shaped us.