Nature And Nurture : Shakespeare About Nature Vs. Nurture

What determines who you are or what you will become? The debate between nature versus nurture is trying to figure this out. According to “Essentials of Psychology”, Jeffrey S. Nevid (2012) Nature versus nurture is the debate about how genetics and nature determine our behavior. In other words, have your attitude, behavior and health problems developed because of how you were raised or who you came from. It is a debate that has stumped psychologists for centuries. The study of twins, both identical and fraternal, have made it easier for psychologists to figure out this debate. So what is the answer to this age old debate; Nature or Nurture?

5) Neuroticism: Like extraversion, this trait has been extensively studied. In some trait models, it is known as negative emotionality. People who score high in this category tend to react negatively in response to stress than others (Mroczek & Almeida. 2004)

Each of these components have personality traits that are associated with them. Extraversion refers to the degree in which a person is active, energetic, talkative, and assertive. Openness refers to the degree in which a person is imaginative, independent, and prefers variety. Agreeableness depends on the individual’s level of compassion, trust, and good nature. Conscientiousness is the extent to which a person is organized, careful, and responsible. Lastly, neuroticism relates to a person’s emotional stability and negative emotions. If you experience this, you score higher in neuroticism. I personally took a survey on the Big Five and I would have to say that I agree with the results for the most part. The only component I disagreed with was openness because it put me in the 6th percentile. I think this is a little low, but not too far off. It is said that results in these five factors can vary based on culture.

“You inherit your environment just as much as your genes.” (Rich, 2015) In 1869, the phrase “nature vs. nurture was coined by an English polymath named Francis Galton. There are two sides to this debate, each with their own pros and con’s. Nature is the side that argues that the DNA and genotype humans are born with determines who they are and what personality and traits they will have throughout their lifetime. Whereas the nurture side of the debate argues that humans are born with sponges as minds, and through interactions and experiences while we grow, the knowledge and understanding of life is gained and this is how our personalities are sculpted. Many people have studied this debate through multiple schools of thoughts; each with their own arguments to which side they believe prevails. Yet, to this day, there is no proof to say which side of the debate if correct. Based on the psychological, sociological, and epigenetic schools of though, it can be validated that when it comes to the nature vs. nurture debate, nurture will always prevail and remain most relevant.

A person becomes who they are as a result of a mixture of factors throughout his or her life. Many argue that some people are simply born evil, while others believe they were so drastically affected by events of their childhood that they turned wicked. The nature vs. nurture controversy centers on whether an evolutionary approach to development places too much emphasis on nature, the biological basis of personality, and not enough on nurture, the role of learning. The psychological viewpoint on development is based on the relationship between heredity and the environment, rather than one factor taking precedence in the formation of personality. In Frankenstein, Shelley highlights the fundamental role of nurture in relation to the development

The Nature versus Nurture argument can be traced back many millenniums ago. In 350 B.C., philosophers asked the same question on human behaviour. Plato and Aristotle were two philosophers that each had two diverse views on the matter. Plato believed that knowledge and behaviour were due to inherent factors, but environmental factors still played a role in the equation. Conversely, Aristotle had different views. He believed in the idea of “Tabula Rasa”.

There are five major dimensions of personality: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Neuroticism includes anxiety, depression, hostility, impulsiveness, self-consciousness, and vulnerability. Warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking and positive emotions characterize extraversion. Openness includes openness to fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas and values. The facets of agreeableness include altruism, compliance, modesty, straightforwardness, tender-mindedness, and trust. Conscientiousness includes achievement striving, competence, deliberation, dutifulness, order and self-discipline (Article 3).

The debate over nature vs. nurture has been researched and studied today and as well in the past amongst many different scholars with different views. Nature defines the characteristics that we are born with, like our genetics, stable personality traits, and physical conditions. While on the other hand, nurture is when our environment determines who a person is and who they will become; the experiences that mold and change us throughout our lives are all examples of nurture. Today, within many types of research it has been proven that a person is not born as a killer, instead, they are nurtured into one considering the way their parents raise them, what they are taught at school, and their culture. (Examination of the Psychology of Serial Killers,

Introversion- Extraversion, which focus on whether an individual focuses on their inner or outer world. Neuroticism-Emotional Stability focuses on a person’s moodiness versus even-temperedness. Psychoticism refers to an

The tendency to be emotionally reactive, anxious, susceptible to stress, hostile, and insecure would describe the traits of a person with neuroticism or neurotic tendencies, neuroticism is rated low on effectiveness according to the Factor Five Model. Goodall’s attempts to gain access to chimpanzee’s habit required hours of quiet reflection and meditation, she sat for weeks before the first chimp approached her. This kind of diligence and perseverance is not expected from a person with neurotic tendency. Nor do I see neurotic qualities in myself.

Neuroticism is characterized by emotional instability, impulsivity, hostility, self-consciousness, and proneness towards stress (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Individuals who are high in hostility are more inclined to interpret ambiguous behaviour as provocative and react in a defensive, aggressive, or distrustful manner. This leads these individuals to experience

Finally, neuroticism has more of a group of specific traits, which is easier to narrow and link together; N co-occurs among people (Larsen & Buss, 2013, p.70). A major trait in P tends to be that of a worrier and that they also have tendencies to suffer from anxiety/depression.

Neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness are the five personality traits that make up the big five traits. Everyone in the world has theses traits in their personality but have a variation in how strong they are in them. After learning in greater detail about the two ends of the spectrums people can be at or in between we took the BFI to find out where we are on the bell curve for the big five traits. Then we compared our scores with four hundred and fifty-nine other female Luther students to determine our percentiles in the BFI traits. In emotional stability (ES), I ranked in the thirtieth percentile. Since the big five uses neuroticism (N) which is the opposite of emotional stability I scored in the seventieth percentile for N. One with this personality usually experiences lots of negative effects, and is more prone to having irrational ideas, less able to cope well to stress, and control their impulses. Second in the big five traits is agreeableness (A), my percentile for this is in the fifth percentile. People in the middle of the bell curve do not lean one way or another but use a combination of the two spectrums. A person high in A is sympathetic to others and eager to lend them a helping hand. Compared to someone on the opposite side of the bell curve who is egocentric, skeptical of others intentions, and competitive rather than cooperative. Additionally, one low in A are usually science minded and will follow the data shown.

The theory seeks to define the major personality traits that people possess on varying levels as well as the characteristics that exist within them. Neuroticism in particular contains six characteristics as well as their opposites which are the following: anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, and vulnerability. In general, individuals who exhibit high levels of neuroticism tend to be unhappy, have family or job problems, reduced life longevity, and a greater likelihood of suffering from serious

Personality is a large part of being human, as each person has a unique set of characteristics and traits. One person can be kind and patient and another can be rude and ill tempered. This variability is both what makes the study of personality fascinating and incredibly difficult. Although there are a myriad of different personality traits that can be used to describe a person, psychologists have narrowed it down to five overarching ideas. These are commonly referred to as the “Big Five” personality traits and they consist of, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness. In particular, this study will focus on neuroticism, the trait that is characterized by high emotionality and instability, anxiety, and irritability (Soto, John, Gosling, & Potter 2011). Of the five, neuroticism is the only one with a negative connotation, which separates it from the others. Nonetheless, despite its poor reputation, neuroticism is an incredibly important trait to study as it is often linked with anxiety and depression (Soto et al., 2011). For example, one study found that participants who were clinically depressed and those who were not but scored highly on the neuroticism scale both had significantly greater negative self-perceptions (Thomson, 2016). Although currently there is only a correlation between these mental disorders and neuroticism, further experimentation could lead to more conclusive result. Recently, mental health has