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Nature Vs Nature Essay Research Paper Nature

Nature Vs Nature Essay, Research Paper


Nature vs. Nurture


Psychologists have often questioned whether personality traits are inherited,


and therefore a result of genetics, or if they are caused by the environment,


and are therefore made. This has come to be known as the nature versus nurture


controversy. Many psychologists throughout history have asked this question, and


most agree the answer is both.


Nature versus nurture has been an on going argument for over a century and


will carry on further. Scientists have been unable to conclude this question of


which carries most responsibility for behavior. The argument of nature versus


nurture is examined through the role of genetics in one?s personality. Then


the role of environment in a one?s personality. Finally showing how both


nature and nurture coincide to influence behavior in children, that the genetic


makeup shapes one?s personality, thus determining how their environment is


perceived.


Though one?s personality is not determined strictly by genetics, there is


more evidence to support the idea that personality is inherited than there is to


support the idea personality is made based on the environment and based on one?s


experience. Many experiments and studies have been done to determine where one?s


personality stems from, yet, few studies have been as effective as those studies


based on twins, and adopted children. Both types of studies are extremely


successful in determining where one?s personality comes from. In a twins


study, the genes are regulated while in an adoption study the environment is


regulated. Thus, question comes of introverted and extroverted personalities.


(Plomin,1993)


One who is introverted is often thought to be someone that keeps to himself


and rarely chooses to socialize in large groups. He is thought to be a longer


and in many cases to lack the social skills necessary to enjoy himself in


situations that are new to him. In reality, someone who is an introvert is


simply more affected by stimuli than someone who is an extrovert. While an


extrovert may be able to study in a noisy environment with many interruptions


and distractions, an introvert is more likely to opt for a quiet corner of the


library, free of extemporaneous noise.


A study was conducted that tested identical adult twins pairs that had been


raised living apart from one another (Plomin, 1993). The twins were given self


report tests to rate the extent to which they felt that they had grown up in an


environment that was based around acceptance or rejection. In addition to


testing these two traits, the extent to which their parents disciplined the


twins was also tested. The reason for the self report tests to be centered


around these topics because Plomin thought that it was important to determine a


correlation between the environment one is raised in, and one?s personality.


Plomin tested 59 pairs of identical twins reared apart and 142 pairs of


fraternal twins reared apart. What Plomin discovered was that traits once


thought to be created based on the environment that one lives in, are really ?influenced


by genetic factors? (Plomin and Bergman, 1991). Many of the twins studied were


said to have similar personalities, yet because they were raised apart, the only


basis for the similarity is a genetic one. Though the twin studies were


successful in proving that personality is in fact genetically based, many


scientists were not convinced that one?s genes are the only factor that create


one?s personality. Because ?twins share the same womb, birth date and


family, many possible environmental confounds were controlled? ( Plomin 1993)


thus making adoptive studies a more accurate assessment of the inheritance of


personality.


It has been hypothesized that adopted twins raised independent of their


parents will develop a personality more similar to their adoptive parents than


to their birth parents. The reason for this hypothesis is that many people


assume that one learns who is and how one should act from the people living


around them. Through extensive studies, Plomin (1993) was able to discern that


adopted children are actually more similar to their birth parents than to their


adoptive parents. Additionally, adopted twins reared apart are more similar to


one another than similar to their adopted siblings. Though scientists have been


able to conclude that genes do effect behaviors and personality, the question


still remains what genes effect what behaviors.


Studies that look at the influence of genetics and environment on personality


use of the concept of genetic similarity of siblings. By examining genetic


similarity one can look at the differences in siblings as they grow up, with the


knowledge that the subjects came from similar genetic backgrounds. Lynn, Hampson,


and Agahi (1989) found support for the idea that traits are inherited in a study


that examined Irish siblings. The siblings were not twins. The authors


hypothesized that shared family environment has an effect on intelligence but


not on personality. The study examined correlations between young Irish siblings


in the areas of intelligence, neuroticism, extroversion, and psychoticism. 386


sibling pairs were used in the study. Using the Junior Mill Hill Vocabulary Test


and a version of the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory to measure these


traits, the authors correlated the scores of siblings against one anothers. It


showed that shared family environment does have and effect on personality, and


it therefore supports that personality traits are a result of environment.


By comparing the level of extroversion in one child against his or her


sibling, a correlation of .31 was obtained. This correlation is higher than the


correlation predicted from the additive genetic model , which predicts the


correlation predicted from the additive genetic model, which predicts the


correlation between the siblings based only on their genetic makeup. This


suggests that the difference is a result of some shared environmental factors,


and these factors cause the siblings to more alike than the genetic model alone


says that they should be. These environmental factors include the copying of


each other by the siblings and the parents acting as socialization models.


Although the siblings were found to have a high extroversion correlation when


their levels of extroversion were compared as adolescents, this correlation


decreased to .19 when they become adults and left home. These findings suggest


that the drop from .31 to.1

9 is a result of the fact that after growing up, the


socialization/observational learning effects diminish. In other words, siblings


naturally influence one another while they live together, however this influence


diminishes once they are separated. This study clearly shows environmental


factors contribute to the personality characteristic of extroversion and it


supports the argument that personality traits are a result of environment (


Agahi, Hampson, and Lynn, 1989).


McCartney, Harris, and Bernieri (1990), examine the developmental changes in


twins by doing a meta-analysis of various twin studies from 1967 to 1985.


Initially, the genetic makeup of the sets of twins was identified by determining


if the twins were monozygotic, sharing all of their genes, or dizygotic, sharing


about fifty percent of their genes. Then the differences within the genes of the


twins were measured. With each set of twins, the study looked the correlations


between the two with respect to intelligence, sociability, and activity. The


results on sociability are the ones that are useful to us, as this


characteristic is closely related to the trait of introversion/extroversion. To


see what role, if any, environment plays in determining personality traits, the


study then correlated sociability with the variables shared environment and


non-shared environment to see if differences existed between the two. When all


the pairs of MZ twins were used, those that had a shared environment, meaning


that they grew up together instead of being separated after birth, had a


correlation of .40. Those twins who did not share the same environment had a


correlation of .33. When only the two twins with a mean age greater than five


years of age were used, a difference of .22 was found. These differences suggest


that the environment does influence sociability. The difference in the


correlations does not suggest that environment is the ultimate factor in


determining personality, but it does provide clear evidence that environment


plays a role in affecting personality (Bernieri, Harris, and McCartney, 1990).


Stanley Greenspan, a clinical professor of psychiatry, behavioral science,


and pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School, has been


concerned with how parents can shape the personalities of their children. He


proposes that some combination of genes and early and ongoing environment shape


a childs personality. Greenspan?s work is not limited to one personality


trait, but rather all personality types. He acknowledges that genes predispose


children to a basic personality type. He also says that parents who are aware of


their childs personality can create and environment for them that will help


develop positive personality characteristics. For example, and aggressive,


active child can become more aggressive, and possibly antisocial if his or her


parents do not impose rather strict limits. This child can learn to deal with


the aggressiveness in positive ways, such as expending his energy in physical


activities, if the parents provide opportunity for the child to do so. This is


just one example of how with an understanding of their children parents can


shape the childs personality. Greenspan?s book the Challenging Child, which


describes his work , provides additional support for the premise that


environment plays a role in the development of one?s social development of one?s


personality.


Personality traits are not set at birth. On the other hand, they are not


caused completely by environment. The nature versus nurture argument will never


have a clear winner, but the research this paper has found shows that genetics


is not the only cause of personality traits. McCartney, etal. (1990) and Lynn,


etal. (1989), showed that environmental factors played a part in raising the


similarity between the two individuals in a pair of siblings. The work of


Greenspan also shows that this is the case. This research show that


environmental factors indeed play a part in developing one?s personality


The ?Nature vs. Nurture? debate is summed up best when one says that is


neither strictly the environment or one?s genes that determines one?s


personality. It seems that one is given the basis for his personality through


the genes that his parents pass on to him, yet this blue print for personality


can be altered based on influence from the environment. ?You are born with a


certain temperament. But your experience in your early years, in you childhood,


then ..modifies that temperament. It can change that temperament ?[A] child is


born with a temperament that makes the child very bold, assertive, reckless,


perhaps even violent, ..that.. dispositions can be changed through socialization?


(Gergen and Gallagher 1996)


Thus it seems that while this ?Nature vs. Nurture? argument is still


somewhat unresolved there is more evidence based on twin and adoption studies


that lead researchers and scientists to conclude that one?s personality is in


fact inherited than there is to say that personality is made. While the


environment plays a role in determining one?s genetic disposition, the world


around a person never exclusively determines ones? personality, but rather


shapes his or her already existing disposition. The genetic makeup shapes one?s


personality, thus determining how their environment is perceived.


81b


Agahi, Hampson and Lynn (1989). Genetic and environmental mechanisms


determining intelligence, neuroticism, extroversion, and psychoticism: An


analysis of Irish siblings. British Journal of Psychology, 72-85


Bernieri, Harris, and McCartney (1990). Growing up and Growing Apart: A


Developmental Meta-Analysis of Twin Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 107,


226-233.


Braungart, M., Plomin R., Defries,J., etal. (1992) Genetic Influence on


Tester-Rated Infant Temperament as Assessed by Bayley?s Infant Behavior


Record: Nonadoptive and Adoptive Siblings and twins. Developmental Psychology


28, 40-47.


Chipuer, H. Plomin, R. ,Penderson, G. etal. (1993) Genetic Influence on


family Environment: The Role of Personality. Developmental Psychology, 29,


110-118.


Gergen, D. (1996, May) How Heredity and Experience Make you Who You Are.


[36]. Web-cr01.pbs.org [on line]. Available http://web- cr01.pbs.org/newshour/gergen/gallagher_5-14.html


Greenspan, Stanley. The Challenging Child. Reading, Mass: Addison- Wesley,


1995


?The Nature/Nurture Question ? 1995 [30]. parInternet, available


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