Nature Vs. Nurture Debate

“Twins have been the heart and soul of the nature versus nurture debate for over a century” (Plicher 1). Scientists and psychologists believe that because identical twins share 100% of the same genes, that studying twins, would benefit in proving the theory. Twins that are separated at birth end up living in different environments. Because they grow up differently, scientists and psychologists are able to analyze the genetic and environmental influences that shape the twins personalities. Even though the discussion of the nature versus nurture topic has not yet been proven, some feel nurture wins. The study of twins contributes to the debate of nature versus nurture and whether the environment or genetics affects the development of personality.

For years upon years, people have argued the nature vs. nurture debate. The term “nature vs nurture” has been dated to be used all the way back to the Elizabethan period. To break down exactly what nature vs nurture is, it’s a debate whether prenatal care and home environment determines human behavior, or if that simply relies on a person’s genetics. Personally, I believe both nature and nurture play an important role in a human’s development and behavior. To fully understand my reasoning, I’ll break down exactly what nature and nurture are in this long-standing debate.

“Cut from the same cloth”, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”, “A chip off the old block”; most of us have heard these types of idioms at one point or another, ways of likening us to our parents. Sometimes they are right, while other times it couldn’t be farther from the truth; leaving us to wonder, “what is it that makes us who we are?” Are we simply the product of our environments, a collective sum of our interactions and experiences? Or, do our genetics pre-determine who we are, complex variations in our DNA that dictate our individual personalities? Some scientists argue on behalf of the nurture theory, that our personalities are continually changing and growing, influenced by the world and people around us. Others believe that we are pre-wired by genetics alone, that while external factors may magnify or diminish some aspects of that wiring, everything we are is already programmed into us from the moment of conception. So, who is right?

The battle between nature and nurture has been everlasting, a constant debate about what exactly causes criminal behaviour. Psychologists have identified important information and have created assumptions as to why individuals commit crimes. The two most significant clarifications lie in genetic and environmental aspects, which conveys to the nature and nurture controversy. Some believe that criminals are born, these are philosophers who argue that genetics play an important part in how a person behaves. Some believe criminals are made and influenced by society, these are philosophers who argue that it is the environment in which the person is in, such as a person's interaction with society that structures the behaviour

One of the huge problems with the nature vs. nurture debate is that people often forget to include religion, beliefs, and God into the discussion. Religion, especially Christianity, plays a large role in the development of a person, being in part nature and nurture. Several people grow up believing God is real and He loves and nurtures everyone, and this can in turn give them an instinct to care and nurture others. But God also gives each person a natural instinct to love and protect others because He created mankind in His likeness, and His love is endless. The article Nature vs Nurture – Which Side is God On? makes the point that “God did not create us to be bad (it’s our nature). Nor does God provide an environment for us where we have to

Our behavior has been greatly debated over time on wether nature or nurture is responsible for our upbringing. What exactly causes us to become the person we are today? In my opinion, I believe that we are products of our upbringing and our environment, or nurture for short. Our parents and the place they chose to raise up is a big reason as to how we behave as individuals. It is the parents responsibly to raise their child the proper way a person is suppose to be in this world. In other cases, however, some believe that it is all in our nature that defines up as individuals. I beg to differ.

For years, the nature vs. nurture debate has always been a topic that biologists and psychologists cannot come to an agreement on. There have been many controversies that suggest that criminals are born and not made. Some biologists believe that it can be predicted whether or not a baby will grow up to have aggressive behavior by conducting research on them before they are born. In the early 20th century, biologists who supported the nature side of the debate were the same ones who believed traits such as learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and criminality were a drain on public resources . As a result, researchers believed they could ultimately control which human genes were passed on by using forced sterilization on women. However,

With our personalities. They will learn by experience and time. We are all born with our personalities but our behaviors are developed and learned through experience over time. The nature vs. nurture is a debate of the cultural, scientific, and

of “self and mind [being] social products” Henslin, J.M. (2013). I started to and now

“A born devil on whose nature nurture can never stick,” says Prospero in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest(Smallman). Even Shakespeare questioned what traits came from nature and nurture. This argument goes back hundreds of years ago where famous philosophers such as John Locke, Francis Galton, and Thomas Hobbes have researched nature vs. nurture, and no one can seem to agree on one answer. Behavior Genetics is one of the most talked about subjects in Psychology. Most of the world knows it as the debate of Nature vs. Nurture. Now psychologists are not arguing about which side is right, they are arguing about which side influences characteristic traits more. The question is, does

On November 15, 1959, four members of the prosperous Clutter family were murdered for seemingly no reason. This led many people to come up with their own ideas of what happened that night. This debate may be answered by psychology. One question that psychologists have is whether people are controlled more by their nature-genetics-or nurture-how they were raised (Mcleod 1). This debate can be used to discuss the motive of murderers, and argue for or against the death penalty in their case. Richard ¨Dick¨ Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, the ¨Clutter Killers,¨ are a perfect example of the nature vs. nurture debate. Perry was more influenced by nurture, while Dick was more influenced by nature.

Nature against nurture – that’s one of the most popular questions ever studied in psychology. Even today no one knows for sure what’s more valuable for our human development – nurture or nature. Many researches, experiments and discussions have been conducted to answer this question, but positive results are still unavailable. In this nature vs nurture essay you’ll find a brief history, significant characteristics of the nature versus nurture problem and fresh original thoughts on the

Nurture- Social, economic and environmental influences. The nature-nurture debate is an argument based on peoples view about the genetics and inherited genes from parents. Others believe that people believe in things and see things in their way because they are surrounded by people from different cultural backgrounds, the way society is, the things we are taught and the way we observe everything around us. Others believe that the way we act and the things we do are inherited from our parents the same way our hair colour may be from the mother and the eyes from the father.

Scientists and biologist have argued the Nature versus Nurture debate for decades. This debate argues the degree to which our genetics or environment, affects our behaviour and developmental stages. Nature is described as the genetic material that makes up an individual. Nurture can be described as the way in which the environment and experiences of an individual influence their behavior and development. The debate has centered on which is a greater factor for many years but current contemporary views accept and acknowledge the intricacy of the developmental procedure and recognize that “development is not the case of nature or nurture, but rather nature and nurture” (Howard & Walton 2015) It has been shown that genetic and environmental factors are in such continuous interactions that the emergence of particular structures and functions is the result of the dependent interaction of genetics and environment.(Lewkowicz, 2011.)

For more than a century, researchers and psychologists, such as Sir Francis Galton, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and many others, have been trying to understand how people are transformed by their environment. Researchers have mainly argued whether it is in fact our environment or rather genetics, our biological pre-wiring, which has influenced human behavior. This concept ultimately facilitated what is now known as the Nature versus Nurture debate. The Nature aspect states that human behavior is predetermined by our inherited genes or is the product of our innate behavior. The Nurture side of the disagreement postulates that human behavior stems from acquired attributes through individual learning and experiences. Correspondingly, the Object Relations Theory in psychoanalytic psychology supports the position that a person’s natural environment (i.e. family, peers, acquaintances, society) forms human development. The Object Relations theory stresses that it is the relationships between people, more specially family, often between mother and child, that crafts the human psyche.