Nature Vs Nurture Essay

Nature vs. Nurture

By:

Andrea Jessop

Introduction

For years the debate on whether Nature or Nurture determines personality has been analyzed, disputed, deliberated and refuted. Still to this day there is no clear answer on which side of the debate wins because both are necessary contributing factors of personality. The controversy of this debate lies within the fact that while the genetic makeup and DNA are important in developing a person, the environment and influences in which a person lives and learns in is also a necessary factor.

John D. Mullen with Dowling College comments on the debate saying that “determining the degree to which persistent human behaviors and traits are the result of genetics or environments is important for a host of theoretical reasons in psychology.” (Mullen, 2006) Though both nature and nurture have their pertinence in developing a person, my position is the Nurture Theory. In analyzing both theories one can see that environmental influences shape human behavior more than genetics.

Nature Theory

In the debate, Nature refers to the biological factors. Supporters of the Nature Theory claim that a person’s personality traits determined by their genetics stay the same no matter what environmental influences come into play such how and where a person is raised. Some of the most supporting evidence for the Nature Theory comes from the twin studies. In the book “Personality Psychology” the authors introduce their readers to the Jim twins; identical, separated at birth and raised in different families. At the age of 39 years old the twins met for the first time.

Having been separated their whole lives, the similarities among the twins were shocking. Both were named Jim, weighed 180 lbs, were 6 ft. ...

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...as a strongpoint for the Nature Theory, but they have also been used to determine otherwise. In the year 2000 a study from St. Thomas’ Hospital in London found that a person’s traits, such as a sense of humor, are not due to their genes, but their environment; it is learned. (Cherkas, 2000)

It studies like this, Watson’s, and Skinners that suggest humans can be conditioned, influenced by their environments, and learn to become who they are. Behaviors were not pre-determined by genetics but developed through experience with environmental occurrences. While certain genes may affect the likelihood that a person will behave a certain way, it does not MAKE them behave that way. People get to choose how they will act.

Conclusion

Life is a training ground; humans are born with certain physical features but it’s the encounters in life that shape them into who they are.