Nature vs. Nurture

The biggest controversy in psychology today is whether genetics or one’s environment plays a role in the behavior of the individual. Psychologists have researched and developed different theories to explain the reason for the way humans think and behave. The behavior of individuals is either inherited or learned. In my opinion, I believe that nurture plays a big role in the individual’s behavior. Kendra Cherry states, “Nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture” (1). People have become who there are because of the environment they were exposed to in their childhood years. The behavior of people is influenced be the environment that surrounds them and can changed many times through one’s lifetime. People have different personalities a person’s

Many psychologists agree that nurture play a greater part in the development of a human being. Studies such as those performed on monozygotic twins (identical), who share the same genetics and those performed

“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 Similarly, scientists feel that such debate is not only unhelpful, but also outdated.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 classic debated topic of Nature versus Nurture has been and will always be a quarrelsome subject in the scientific world. Meaning, the issue of the level to which environment and heredity sway behavior and development in a person. Nature can be defined as, behaviors due to heredity. This means the behaviors is based on the inherited makeup of an individual and is an influence of the growth and development of that individuals’ all through life. On the other hand nurture is causes of behaviors that are environmental. This Intel’s the influence is from the individual’s parents, siblings, family, friends and all other experiences that individual exposed to during life. However, these concept of ideas supports the inborn genetic framework,

Addressing the question of nature vs. nurture, Dr. Sonia Mathur states that “Genetics loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger” (Mathur).

In society, not one person is alike. By saying this, many people believe that they strongly take after their parents. Meaning they think Nature is a big part in their life and why they are who they are. The genes in each cell in us humans determine the different traits that we have, more dominantly on the physical connections like eye color, hair color, ear size, height, and other traits. However, it is still not known whether the more abstract attributes like personality, intelligence, sexual orientation, likes and dislikes are gene-coded in our DNA. The nurture theory has experiments showing a child’s behavior with the environment as to adult behavior. In the Nature Vs Nurture debate, everyone has their own thoughts and ideas on each

There is no doubt that the idea of adoption has been a controversial topic for a very long time. The practice of adoption dates all the way back to ancient times in Rome, however this form of adoption was used for children to be slaves, rather than for the overall “welfare” of a child. These ideas have expanded over a long period of time and today, a child’s well-being is typically the concentration for adoption. Adoption is a way for parents to either create, or further build a family. Over time, however, the parents of an adopted child must take into account the effects of the child’s overall mental health and well-being. These effects can be positive or negative when looking at the condition of the child’s living situation, their background, and their overall relationship with the adoptee’s parents.

Nature and nurture are usually seen as very different things, but they are actually somewhat similar and even integrated. There is a huge debate over which holds more influence over how people develop and whether they behave based on genes or their environment. In Sincero’s article Nature and Nurture Debate she discusses arguments for both sides, saying behavior may be completely in a person’s genes, or it could come from experience and influence. Many people believe “that the criminal acts, tendency to divorce and aggressive behavior causing abuse can be justified by the ‘behavioral genes’” (Sincero). These genes are said to be the reason that people behave as they do and one cannot help their own actions. Other arguments suggest “that genetic influence over abstract traits may exist; however, the environmental factors are the real origins of our behavior. This includes the use of conditioning in order to induce a new behavior to a child, or alter an unlikely behavior being shown by the child” (Sincero). Environment is a key role in determining how a person is developed, even if genes lay the foundation for personality. However, not only are both very important in influencing behavior, but they also incorporate each other, as part of natural instinct is to prosper and grow, which includes nurturing and protecting others. The importance of nature and nurture in the development of a person as well as their importance within each other contribute to many different situations

How do people become who they are as they grow up? Is it heredity and hardwired into their genes or does the environment in which they grow up determine who they become? Or more importantly, is it a combination of the two? This has been the debate among psychologist for years. Yet these pictures display the biological as well as environmental influence a father has on his on. Kathleen Berger (2016) gives the example of the onset of type 2 diabetes being connected to nature—a genic vulnerability and nurture—the way in which the mother ate during pregnancy. What is more, nurture seems to play an incredible role in how individuals develop and learn to navigate the world. For instance, family and culture give major clues into appropriate behavior and at the same time nature hardwires temperament and personality within each person (Berger 2016). All in all, Berger (2016) points out that any view that gives too much attention to either nature or nurture is extreme. Therefore, the reason someone does something good or bad should not rely solely on upbringing or “it runs in the family” because both nature and nurture are at work within.

Personality development expands far past the environment. Environment contribute to most of the personality development when it comes to nature versus nurture. Nature versus nurture is a trait that is typically inherited in the human society. Humans see things good or bad within the environment and mimic it. There are questions that still remain about nature versus nurture and the environment. Research is still ongoing and theories are still being made or developed. Scientists argue that while the nature part of the equation deals with the environment, it is the nurture part that determines how relationships are handled. Whether the relationship is healthy or unhealthy and how the relationship will be in the future. Some scientists agree the relative influences of genotypic and environmental effects vary among people and is controlled largely by environment.

Though the nature-nurture debate has been a toss-up, showing that both genes and environment are key to establishing someone’s personality study’s has concluded that the genetic makeup of a child shows a stronger influence on personality, this study tested with identical twins raised in different families. A study given by the University of Minnesota showed that, “more than 350 pairs of twins have gone through six days of extensive testing that has included analysis of blood, brain waves, intelligence and allergies. For most of the traits measured, more than half the variation was found to be due to heredity, leaving less than half determined by the influence of parents, home environment and other experiences in life”. All together it is look at that though one doesn’t dominantly stick out as the primary reason, hereditary does have a slight edge over environment.

In this case there are many factors that one would classify as nature and others as nurture. For instance, one of the twins believed they were the same person because they had similar personalities and had the same taste in music In this case she believed that hereditary and genes had played a role. Yet they felt they were different. In an article by NPR titled, ‘Identical Strangers’ Explore Nature vs Nurture,Bernstein(a twin) states “It's not just our taste in music or books; it goes beyond that. In her, I see the same basic personality. And yet, eventually we had to realize that we're different people with different life histories.” They were each a different person despite being twins. Both believed in different values and were presently at a different point in their lives. The way they were raised were

Twins who have the same genetic makeup raised up in a different environment have portrayed variation in performance and other dynamics of intelligence quotients, physical development, and socioemotional development. Research on adoptions has also revealed interesting results concerning biological and nature in the development of the children. Therefore, this raises the question about the roles of nature and nurture in growth and development at childhood stage. Nature involves the biological genes or the genetic makeup of a person while nurture refers to everything in the surrounding of a person including the people with whom he or she interacts.

On the nature verse nurture debate, it is difficult to choose one side. On one hand biology and genetics can influence individuals. It can cause them to be more social, have disorders, and even be the cause of social factors. On the other hand, nurture also has an effect on the behaviors of individuals. Both of them are scientifically proven to have an effect on an individual’s personality and behaviors. There is evidence that suggest that neither one of them is completely responsible for behaviors, they both play major roles. From the perspective of a scientist, they may see biological factors to have a stronger influence, but from a sociologist perspective they may see social and environmental factors as being more influential. After extensive research, I believe environmental factors have a greater influence on the behaviors and personalities of individuals.

Nature is genetics, and it is responsible for some of the ways we act. Look at Anais and Sam they have about the same personality and they didn’t live together. They have related careers, they laugh the same, they have the same sense of humor. They are twins separated as kids and were grown up in different environments. Another good example would be the Jim twins. The Jim twins are another pair of twins separated as kids. They are alike, but they didn’t like together, Both of their wives had the same name, both of their hobbies are woodworking, and they both bite their nails. Look at Jack and Oskar, another pair of twins that have been separated at birth. When they met later in their lives they found out they both liked to sneeze to scare people. They both are very stubborn and they didn’t even grow up together!