The opposing views of “nature versus nurture” have evoked an abundance of disagreements ever since the early years. Both sides of the debate theorize that every individual has different personalities. The “nature” aspect argues that our genes influence our character, while the “nurture” aspect argues that our environments influence our character. This controversial issue in psychology has convincing ideas from both perspectives, which is why it is still a widely talked issue by social scientists and psychologists today. The start of the famous debate dates back to the ancient Greek period, with well-known philosophers such as Plato who sided with nature and Aristotle who sided with nurture (The Earliest Psychologists), where the basis of these
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In their article, they analyzed several studies that other psychologists have conducted to prove their claim. For instance, the interview study of mothers and their child-rearing practices conducted by Sears, Maccoby, and Levin showed that our surroundings influence a child and their future behaviors (Kagan). When a child is exposed to more “maternal warmth and affection”, they tend to be more sociable and independent because they have a stronger bond of trust with their mother. On the other hand, if there is a lacking amount of maternal affection, a child tends to exhibit more aggression and slower character development. This data from the interviews support Kagan and Moss’ claim that family members can impact an individual’s character from their early childhood, and possibly onwards. The commonly used phrase “birds of a feather flock together” implies that our peers affect our character. Anne K. Reitz, a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Columbia Aging Center, stated in her journal How Peers Make a Difference: The Role of Peer Groups and Peer Relationships in Personality Development that the group socialization theory has a major impact on an individual. The group socialization theory suggests that because peer groups influence a person’s personality or behavior, it could possibly be the reason as to why we all have different personalities. As we grow older, we become more independent from our parents. Therefore, our peers play a large role throughout the rest of our lives because we tend to spend more time with them, and also because that there are more shared interests. For example, due to the theory, siblings who grew up in the same family can have different personalities because they were surrounded by different peer groups.
In their article, they analyzed several studies that other psychologists have conducted to prove their claim. For instance, the interview study of mothers and their child-rearing practices conducted by Sears, Maccoby, and Levin showed that our surroundings influence a child and their future behaviors (Kagan). When a child is exposed to more “maternal warmth and affection”, they tend to be more sociable and independent because they have a stronger bond of trust with their mother. On the other hand, if there is a lacking amount of maternal affection, a child tends to exhibit more aggression and slower character development. This data from the interviews support Kagan and Moss’ claim that family members can impact an individual’s character from their early childhood, and possibly onwards. The commonly used phrase “birds of a feather flock together” implies that our peers affect our character. Anne K. Reitz, a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Columbia Aging Center, stated in her journal How Peers Make a Difference: The Role of Peer Groups and Peer Relationships in Personality Development that the group socialization theory has a major impact on an individual. The group socialization theory suggests that because peer groups influence a person’s personality or behavior, it could possibly be the reason as to why we all have different personalities. As we grow older, we become more independent from our parents. Therefore, our peers play a large role throughout the rest of our lives because we tend to spend more time with them, and also because that there are more shared interests. For example, due to the theory, siblings who grew up in the same family can have different personalities because they were surrounded by different peer groups.