Nature vs nurture: is personality mostly shaped by our genes or by the environment and socialization?
Source: Composite by G_marius based on a Vic's image
The nature vs nurture debate is central to the field of psychology. Is our personality mostly inherited (genetic) or acquired (learned)?
Nature refers to what is biologically inherited, the features of our personality that are related to our genome. Nurture refers to what is acquired during our lives, the traits that have been learned or adopted due to the socialization process and the environment in which we have been brought up.
Nature vs nurture debate
John Locke adapted the classical concept of tabula rasa ("blank slate") in his critique of Descartes' argument of an innate idea of God universal to humanity. This is often considered the origins of the philosophical debate nature vs nurture. Are human instincts defining our actions or have we freedom of action? With the technological advances and the discovery of DNA, this philosophical conundrum evolved into a biological and psychological debate.
Traditionally, many saw that the divide nature vs nurture somehow mirrored the philosophical discussions about fate and agency. Are we just naturally gifted or doomed? Have parents and educators little margin try to shape childrens personality? New studies show that environment and the early experiences in life can be as deterministic to define personalities as it was believed only genes could be. And at the same time the genome seems to be somehow malleable.
Experts agree that personality is a combination between our genes, or nature, and the environment in which we grow up. However there is still a great controversy about which of the two have a stronger impact in our personality and behavior, in our philias and phobias. Some researchers argue that the genes (nature) explain most of the variation observed while others claim that genetic research does not support this theory.
Other scientists argue that the answer is: "it depends". A recent study at King's College London shows that some environments have the capacity to shape personality more than others. For instance they discovered that across the UK about 60% of the variation of children behavior at school was determined by their genes. However it seems that in London the impact of the environment was higher than in other parts of the UK.
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Genetics is still an evolving field of study. Moreover there are still many theories and ideas about education and socialization of children that haven't been completely settled by academics. What do you think?
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904 xp
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I agree with the comment below about children. Both my children were born with different personalities, attitudes and behaviours and are being raised in the same environment. You could tell the difference the moment they were born. It doesn't mean education and the environment are not important in shaping who they are but it's also important as parents to respect their personalities and try not to repress who they are.
752 xp
94 posts
In my opinión both are important. Family, education and friends affect your personality.
1360 xp
344 posts
some people have genetic predisposition towards obesity or violence. It does not mean they are predestined.
1360 xp
344 posts
Steve pinker's "the blank slate" is a great reference book on the importance of evolutionary adaptations and their impact on bñhuman behaviour.
1207 xp
194 posts
You are right, it was just a perception. I doubt any experimet could control all the variables. Humans are not guinea pigs, so I think we willnever nknow 100% the answer. Anyway I find a very interesting mistery for science to solve.
1651 xp
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I agree that genes play a very important role in someone's behavior. You can actually see the impact of gene mutations on people's mental abilities or physical abilities for instance. But I also agree that the environment plays a very important role too. If you have a genetic disorder and you live in conditions which make it worse, then you may psychologically suffer from it and develop anxiety or other things which will affect your social life... But if you live in an environment which helps you to overcome your gene-related disability, you may be happy and very positive with others... So I think both, genes and environment, play a very important role together. It's just very complex to see by how much they alter our behavior... and it may not be a constant influence anyway...
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This isn't the most scientifically rigorous of experiments. For example: One child was born into a household with two parents who had (presumably) never raised a child before and has no siblings. The second child was born into a family that already had experience in child rearing, as well as having an older sibling. These two environments will be very different.
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I don't know . But I am inclined to think that nature has a lot to do with it. I have two children and you can see how different their personalities are . Living in the same environment. I am talking of a baby 1 year old. For sure the environment and relationships will shape our personality but nature ,imo, has more to say about it
426 xp
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It's much too easy to pretend that a behavior comes from genetics. So obese people are not responsible for their overweight, or thieves are not responsible for their crimes. We all have the opportunity to learn moral values and laws, and the free will to follow them or not.
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Very interesting the theory on the variable impact of nature according to the type of environment. I am still not fully persuaded about these studies that show twins separated at birth having the same behaviour. Even when they live together they usually display different personalities.
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