Personality Theory Nature Vs Nurture

Psychology is an extremely expansive topic over the human mind and it’s functions. One of the oldest debates in psychology however, would be nature vs nurture. The nature vs nurture debate is basically whether or not a person’s development is predisposed in their DNA or if a majority of it is influenced by life experiences and environment (Nature and Nurture Debate, n.d.). A person's development has many components to it, one particular interesting branch being personality- if psychologists understand a person's personality they can begin to predict behavior. Personality is much more interesting than that though, a person wouldn’t be themselves without that spark of personality which differentiates them from another. Although there is no real

Erikson states in his theory that every person must pass through a series of eight interrelated stages over the entire life cycle (Erikson's Stages of Development, 2016). His theory is in support of an empiricist view, or the nurture side of the debate. From childhood, Erikson states if a child is properly cared for and handles they will develop trust, confidence, security, etc. Whereas is a child experiences the opposite they can develop traits like mistrust, insecurity, worthlessness, etc. In the last phase of his theory even, Erikson believes personality can still be affected. He talks about the last stage as being a stage of reflection, and that a person can either look back on their life with contentment and fulfillment, or a sense of despair if they reflect upon their experiences and failures (Erikson's Stages of Development,

nurtures effect on personality development. Each side offers many forms of evidence and support for how personality development is created and influenced. In today's world however many people don’t accept just one of the extreme positions by themselves, simple because each side of the argument offers so many “facts”. To accept just one side of the argument would be to accept an “all or nothing take” or that you only agree with that one side. Instead, because each side makes such a valid point, many people think personality development is created through a little bit of both- nature and nurture. Outside influence and genetics collectively form how an individual's personality is developed. Personality development isn’t just black and white, it’s a combination of environmental influence and genetics. It’s a matter of how much of each influence the person we become. The question now, instead of being is personality development based on nature or nurture, is which one is more important to the development if they both contribute (McLeod, 1970). It’s simply that genetics and heredity can influence and determine personality to a certain degree, but then people will adapt and change to the surrounding environment as well. Overall nature and nurture both play their own parts in personality development as a