Nature vs. Nurture: Personality
Nurture
The development of personality has led to much debate. Scientists have argued about what determines it or what affects it more – nature or nurture. There is a case to be made for both. Many believe that personality is determined by nature or, in other words, heredity and genetics. There is also a nurture theory to personality. First of all, nurture will be examined.
Proponents of nurture argue that environmental factors influence a particular behavior and in this case, the environment influences the personality of someone. Since a child is born, he or she is influenced by it. Environmental factors that can alter someone’s personality are, for example: culture, religion, family, and even friends. Their …show more content…
Temperament refers to certain dispositions people have that appear first in their early childhood and continue throughout their lives (4).
For example, some people are more irritable, while others have more energy. These traits tend to remain stable through a lifetime and appear even when the person is in infancy (4).
These are also the traits that appear before the environment could have influenced the children. For example, one baby may already be showing more energy, while another seems to have less.
Traits that appear early on seem to be related to genetics. Some researchers have suggested that stable traits, meaning those that continue throughout life, are related to genetics, while those traits that change are linked to the environment (4).
The idea of temperament seems to be very important as it suggests that children have different characteristics from birth which are inherited. This, in turn, will affect how children grow up, interact with others and experience the world.
It can't be said that there are specific genes that determine this or that trait. Rather, there are genes that are linked to the nervous system and its development. In turn, the nervous system affects behavior and …show more content…
Argument for Nurture
Both nature and nurture have evidence in their favor. However, in my opinion, nurture would be the one that contributes more to the development of personality. Here is why.
First of all, the environment provides constant influence on the child. There are the parents or caretakers, society, culture, mass media and so on. All these influence the child from a very early age and do so constantly. For instance, even the absence of parents has an influence on personality.
The child needs to adapt to an environment in order to grow and develop the best they can. Even children who grow up with neglectful parents have to adapt to that, but this adaptation will make them act differently from a child who is growing up with a lot of parental support. They will learn not to be a certain way. Following the example of a child with neglectful parents, the child will have to take more care of themselves and maybe become more responsible, but also have a hard time trusting others or having close
Nurture
The development of personality has led to much debate. Scientists have argued about what determines it or what affects it more – nature or nurture. There is a case to be made for both. Many believe that personality is determined by nature or, in other words, heredity and genetics. There is also a nurture theory to personality. First of all, nurture will be examined.
Proponents of nurture argue that environmental factors influence a particular behavior and in this case, the environment influences the personality of someone. Since a child is born, he or she is influenced by it. Environmental factors that can alter someone’s personality are, for example: culture, religion, family, and even friends. Their …show more content…
Temperament refers to certain dispositions people have that appear first in their early childhood and continue throughout their lives (4).
For example, some people are more irritable, while others have more energy. These traits tend to remain stable through a lifetime and appear even when the person is in infancy (4).
These are also the traits that appear before the environment could have influenced the children. For example, one baby may already be showing more energy, while another seems to have less.
Traits that appear early on seem to be related to genetics. Some researchers have suggested that stable traits, meaning those that continue throughout life, are related to genetics, while those traits that change are linked to the environment (4).
The idea of temperament seems to be very important as it suggests that children have different characteristics from birth which are inherited. This, in turn, will affect how children grow up, interact with others and experience the world.
It can't be said that there are specific genes that determine this or that trait. Rather, there are genes that are linked to the nervous system and its development. In turn, the nervous system affects behavior and …show more content…
Argument for Nurture
Both nature and nurture have evidence in their favor. However, in my opinion, nurture would be the one that contributes more to the development of personality. Here is why.
First of all, the environment provides constant influence on the child. There are the parents or caretakers, society, culture, mass media and so on. All these influence the child from a very early age and do so constantly. For instance, even the absence of parents has an influence on personality.
The child needs to adapt to an environment in order to grow and develop the best they can. Even children who grow up with neglectful parents have to adapt to that, but this adaptation will make them act differently from a child who is growing up with a lot of parental support. They will learn not to be a certain way. Following the example of a child with neglectful parents, the child will have to take more care of themselves and maybe become more responsible, but also have a hard time trusting others or having close