The Debate Of Nature And Nurture

One of the main, and most controversial topics discussed in a child’s development is, nature vs. nurture. Nature pertains to genetic influences that a child has inherited from their parents, such as traits, abilities, and capacities. For instance, what color eyes the child may have, how athletic they may be, and even their brain development. Whereas nurture, refers to the environment the child is raised in and how this shapes their behaviors. Such factors can include, the family’s socio-economic status, schooling, parental discipline, as well as whether the child is provided with enough resources. When it comes to nature or nurture having a stronger influence then the other, the answer is both, nature and nurture, influence the outcome of the child. This idea that both nature and nurture, play a part in how the child will develop, is known as the nature-nurture continuum.

Nurture vs Nature Reading the memoir Identical Strangers by Elyse Schein, it is easily comprehensible that the debate of nurture vs nature has been around for decades. Nurture is the way a person grew up or was raised, while nature refers to the biological factors in a human being. To test this subject, scientists went as far as experimenting on humans. Even though both nature and nurture play a big role in shaping human development, it is the difference between our genetics and environment that determines our behavior, personality, and overall well being of a person. Nurture plays a huge role in the development of humans.

Nature is in your genes. The physical and personality traits determined by your genes stay the same regardless of where you are born and raised or who you were raised by. For example, almost all children have the ability to learn to walk, understand language, imitate others, use simple tools, and make their own conclusions about how other people see the world. Consequently, all children have universal human genes that, when tied together with a reasonable environment, allow them to develop as rationally competent members of society. Other kinds of genes create differences among people. A child’s height and weight, eye color, and facial features are largely determined by genes. Moreover, a child’s disposition, their individual ways of reacting to emotional events and their own impulses seems to be partly affected by their individual genes. In the same way, being slow or quick to learn from instruction and everyday experiences has some root in genetics as well. Inherited features and inclinations are not always obvious at birth. Many physical features show themselves over time through the course of genetically driven changes that happen over the course of our development. Environmental assistance, like food, relatively safe and toxin-free atmospheres, and responsive and attentive care from others, is required as well for complete development to take happen; nature never works

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology. The debate centers on the relative contributions of genetic inheritance and environmental factors to human development.

Nature and nurture are two terms used in behavioral psychology to describe or debate what influences our personal growth and development. Nature is the genetic influences on how closely related people can have similar characteristics. The concept of nature is that certain genetic and hereditary characteristics are passed down from generation to generation. For example, a grandmother, a daughter and a granddaughter can all have the same skin color, hair color, eye color and also be similar in height. Also genetics are believed to play a role in intelligence, as well as some birth defects, and sexual orientation. Nurture on the other hand, is the role of environmental influences on an individual’s growth and development. Environmental influences include the home environment, parenting style and the effects of educational programs. There had been much research and debate on the roles of nature and nurture in one’s personal development.

Nature versus Nurture has been a prolonged debate since the beginning of modern science. The argument is whether our characteristics, personality and behavior are affected by the environment or heredity. The nature theory is that our genes and hereditary plays a factor on how we look to the different traits we have. On the other hand, the nurture theory is that the environment and our personal experiences has an impact on who we are. Therefore, both factors play a major role in determining why some people commit serious crimes or to study if an adopted child has more in common with their biological family or adopted family.

The argument of nature versus nurture is seen throughout parenting books and psychology journals. Can a parent truly change a child or is their future preprogrammed from conception? Parents and psychologists alike grapple with the relationship between nature and nurture. Orenstein (2011), a mother of a young girl, argues that gender is a socially constructed concept. Although she acknowledges general heritable and biological aspects of gender, she believes the environment a child matures in affects their expression of gender. Specifically, she believes young girls are socially reinforced to grow up loving dolls, the color pink, and the idea of princesses. Orenstein discusses how biases regarding gender are reinforced by environment, specifically

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

Scientists still agree that biology does play a part in human behavior, however. Nature and nurture do not oppose each other in every manner. Today, social scientists hesitate to choose one or the other. As humans, life depends solely on the operating of the body. This is seen especially in children. It is obvious that children share their biological traits, such as hair or eye color, with that of their parents. Heredity also plays a part in their intelligence, how artistic they are, and their overall personality. We all have “potential” inheritances, in which their full development depends on how we are all raised. Both sides

One of the oldest and most argued studies in psychology would have to be differentiating between nature, if we were born with specific biological and hardwired characteristics or if we are nurtured into the person we are today, meaning our characteristics are influenced by the things we are taught, things we have learned, and the people present in our lives at any given time. When you are born your mind is like a blank slate but as you grow you develop your own identity. Genes capture the evolutionary responses of past ancestors to the selection on behavior. Environmental diversity gives us the opportunity to adjust to changes during our own lifetime. The nature versus nurture debate relates to many controversies such as intelligence, gender identities, violent behaviors, and sexual orientation. If you believe your personality develops as you grow and gain experience then you take the nurture side in this debate but if you believe you have always had a set personality that has been present since birth then you take the nature side in this debate. Many people believe the two correlate when it comes to the upbringing of a person and in determining individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. Recently both have come to be recognized as playing interacting roles in the development of a

“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.

The controversy of nature vs. nurture has been disputed for years. Nature vs. nurture refers to the question of which factors are most significant in determining development; those related to heredity or environment. It has been reported that some scientists think that “nature” is referred as the importance in heredity as the major determinate also known as “nature” the theory of human behavior. The nurture theory scientists believe that people think and behave in certain ways because they are taught to do so.

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.

The debate on nature versus nurture is an old philosophical issue in psychology. Nature involves all genes as well as hereditary factors, which influence who we are. These range from the physical appearance to the personality features of a person. Nurture involves all environmental variables, which determine who we are: experiences during early childhood, how one is raised, the surrounding culture, and one’s social relationships. Biological psychology today insists on the significance of genet is as well as biological influences. When it comes to behavioral psychology, the most important thing is how the environment affects behavior. Unlike earlier when debates on relative contributions of the concept took a one-sided approach, experts currently

Nature v.s. Nurture is one of the strongest debates that raises strong arguments from different viewpoints. In this essay i will describe whether nature or nurture had an impact on who i am today in this society .