Genetic Influences on Personality

“Trying to separate out nature and nurture as explanations for behavior, as in classic genetic studies of twins and families, is now said to be both impossible and unproductive” (Levitt, 1). Social scientists have declared the nature-nurture debate to be unnecessary. Similarly, scientists feel that such debate is not only unhelpful, but also outdated. From geneticists’ perspective, nurture and nature interact to influence

The nature vs nurture issue has been a controversial argument among psychologist for decades. This argument exposes two different views. One of them emphasizes that our personality depends solely on genetics (nature). On the other hand, the second view suggests that humans “develop through experience” (Myers 2013, SG 6) (nurture).

Dr. Robert Best’s lecture here at Winthrop was on the topic of genetics. The question at hand was, “Can your parent’s behavioral characteristics be passed down through genetics?” Genetics are essentially the blueprints to each and every one of us. Our characteristics are coded by our genes, however, do genes affect every aspect of us? When looking at the common book, The Glass Castle, it seems apparent that certain traits like intelligence and creativity can be passed through genes, but not necessarily affect behavior and personality.

Human behavior is a loosely defined foundation for individuality, generally considered to be influenced and developed by the environment. However, recent molecular studies have exposed genetic factors that suggest a more biological origin for behavior. Gene segments in the genome of humans and other animals have been identified and associated with particular behavioral traits. Is it possible that the presence or absence of even a single gene may predispose one to alcoholism, increased irritability, or enhanced intelligence? Clearly exploration of the nature versus nurture argument with regard to genetic predisposition has social, political, and legal significance.

Evolutionary/genetic perspectives do not generally account for the biological mechanisms between genes and personality.  Theorists use biological processes in an attempt to fill in the gap between personality and genetics by inferring, theorizing and researching biological links with behavior. Anatomical approach examines functions of various structures of brain.

Such findings and the current state of the emerging field of behavioral genetics are summarized by the distinguished academics Cynthia Coll, Elaine Bearer and Richard Lerner, editors of the compendium Nature and Nurture: The Complex Interplay of Genetic

When reviewing different sources to write this paper I quickly concluded that this may be one of my favorite theories or therapy practice techniques. I too believe that the family system determines or shapes ones personality. Take for instance myself; I am a middle child and the first girl. I can see how in some ways I always strive for my parents to say that they are proud of me. I think this stems from the lack of attention as a child. My parents could rely on me to get good grades, have the best behavior in school, and to live a “good moral” life. Because of this I didn’t require as much work as my sister and brother. Our parents early in life taught us about our roles in the family. We understood what we were supposed to do. I also saw how my older brother’s behavior shaped my parents’ role and attitude different things would have to change at the last minute according to his behavior and

There have been and still are many debates about how a person’s genotype can be a significant factor in the development of your personality, but more relating to criminality. It is very hard to say that your genetic make-up is not a factor in who you become as a person, but I fully believe that the environment also is a factor as well. Having a genetic predisposition does not mean that you are automatically going to inherit whatever trait that was passed down from your parents. Everyone has a choice in who they become as individuals; it all just depends on the environment that you are raised in and the people that are around you when you are growing up. There has been a lot of research on this subject and it has concluded that it is more

Both nature and nurture interplay to determine personality characteristics. Nature is heredity and passed on at conception. Nurture is that which is environmentally developed. It is innate that a baby will crawl, but he needs the support of his environment (diet, etc.) if he is to ultimately survive. Our behaviour is the result of a combination of inborn traits and the situations in which we find ourselves. There are five categorise which help influence personality differences. Genetically, offspring tend to take on some of the characteristics of their parents. However, this could be due to long term exposure to the personalities of their parents rather than their genetic coding. Whether a person is male or female determines what gender role they take on. ‘Women are expected to be nurturing, attractive, emotional, weak, and subordinate to men; whereas, men are the strong, rational, objective, and financial providers’ (Loue and Sajatovic, 2007). Ones family experiences can also influence a person’s behaviour. Family experiences like: ‘family size, birth order, differential parental orientations towards children’ etc. will impact on the emergence of personality as well as a person’s suitability to leadership roles (Morley and Moore et al., 2004, pp. 28-52). Culture plays a very strong role in determining what is believed to be acceptable and unacceptable

The world of Genetics is one that is both fascinating and interesting. When tackling how genetics plays a role in behavior, one must look within the scope of what genetics is before dealing with how it plays a significant role in one’s behavior. Simply put, genetics is the study of genes. It is a biological component within the entire study of biology itself. Scientists who study genetics and perform research do so with the intent to learn more about how genetics affects the overall attitudes, behaviors and dispositions of individuals. It could be said that genetics is somewhat of a psychological-biological science as researchers look at the underlying patterns within the genes that cause

Nature combines with nurture to form our personalities. Our genes may predispose us for certain inheritable traits such as diseases like cystic fibrosis or even just irritability, similar to our relatives, but the environment we are raised in has quite a bit to do with how visible certain aspects of our personality become. If a child is always around an environment where there is constant arguing and yelling going on, the child may naturally feel that is the proper thing to do when things do not go as they would like. Likewise, genetics play a role in determining a person's body type, thus you could get your eye color from your mom, and your height from your dad.

Is behavior learned? It is inborn? What of aggression, intelligence, and madness? There is a crucial relationship between the behavior of humans toward their own kind and the view of life they hold. Interest in behavioral genetics depends on wanting to know why people differ. According to Jack R. Vale, in Genes, Environment, and Behavior, recognition of the importance of hereditary influence on behavior represents one of the most dramatic changes in the social and behavioral sciences during the past two decades. A shift began toward the more balanced contemporary view that recognizes genetic as well as environmental influences on behavior. Behavioral genetics lies in its theory and methods, which consider both genetic and

This essay will give a description of Personality before critically analysing the biological basis of personality approach. The biological basis approach tries to account for the mechanisms between genes and personality by looking at various different brain structures whilst the biochemical approach looks at the impact of hormones and neurotransmitters. The majority of our understanding of personality from a biological perspective focuses on the three main behavioural systems; the reward system, the motivation system and the punishment system. Within this essay I will be discussing the three main theories that have come from these ideas, Eyenck’s three-factor model, Gray’s reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) and Cloningers model of personality.

Human character and behaviour are not only shaped by the genes that encompass the individual’s genotype. Human character comprising mainly of personality, sexuality, morality and intelligence are the products of genetic determinism as well as external environmental factors. “Single genes can have surprisingly strong influences on particular aspects of behaviour.” (Frank., 2009)

Some psychological models assert that a proportion of our personality is inborn and permanent (Hollander, 1971), that a psychological core at the center of our personality gives us enduring, inner characteristics. Hans Eysenck (1965) suggests that our motivation and emotion are related to biological differences in brain function and proposed that 75% of our personality is based on genetic influence and 25% on environmental influence. Research by Peter Whybrow (1999) on identical twins separated at birth examined how their different environments shaped their personalities. He found that around 40% of personality should be credited to genetics, with 60% determined by outside factors.