The Influence Of Nature Vs. Nurture

Nature versus nurture is one of the oldest and most studied debates in the history of psychology. This debate is about an individual’s genetic influences as opposed to the environmental influences on physical characteristics and intelligence (Rathus 197). Some think that genes determine an individual’s development and others think that it comes from how one was raised. My development was influenced by nature and nurture equally because I would not be myself if I did not get my ambition from my mother and my manners from my upbringing.

Nature refers to an individual’s genetic influences. Factors include biological and family traits (Rathus 198). For example, if a child is developing skills early and his parents are intelligent, then the child was clearly “born smart.” The coding in genes determines physical traits such

as hair and eye color, intelligence, personality, and even ear size.
I have many physical traits that came from my mother. My mother and I are both short, have brown hair, have a large nose, and have one crooked toe on our right foot. I also have many personality traits from her. My mother is very intelligent and hard-working. I got my ambition from her because we both work hard in everything we do.
Nurture refers to the environment in which one was raised. Factors include one’s childhood and environment (Rathus198). For example, if a child is developing skills early, then it is because of the child’s educational background and how they were raised. Those who believe that the intelligence was caused by nurture would give the credit to the child’s school background and upbringing.
I developed my manners through nurture.

My parents raised me to know right from wrong and gave me reasons why things I did were wrong. I know this is nurture because if I knew manners already then I would have never got in trouble growing up. I had to learn this trait. This taught me to be aware of my actions and how they might affect other people. Another trait I could get through nurture is breast cancer. Most people think that you can only get breast cancer from heredity, but in everyday life, we are exposed to dangerous chemicals that could cause it (Breast Cancer). Nurture is something that we live and learn throughout our lives.

In conclusion, do we behave according to our experiences in our environment or are we born this way? My life was influenced by a little bit of both nature and nurture. I could not just pick one or the other because I have many physical traits from my mother and I also have learned traits from my childhood and how my parent’s raised me. The nature versus nurture debate will go on and on, but it is certain that everyone has traits that are predetermined by genes and everyone learns as they travel through their

lifetime.