Abstract.
The nature versus nurture contention is based on the impacts of genetics and environment on human psychology. Nature advocates argue that genetic characteristics are passed from parents to offspring and have an impact on people’s unique characteristics. A person’s behaviour and cognitive development largely depend on their genes. However, nurture proponents argue that one’s environment has more impact on their psychological development. Several biological and behavioural theories support the nature and nurture effects on human psychological development. According to the theory, people’s experiences influence their behaviours and actions. The theory suggests that people can be programmed to become anything notwithstanding their genetic compositions. According to social learning theory, children learn violent behaviours from the environment through stimulation and observation (Akers & Jennings, 2015). A child’s behaviour can be shaped by what they see and hear from the people around them. The nature vs. nurture debate is supported by various research and evidence. Therefore, the paper addresses the role of nature and nurture in human psychology focusing on various dimensions including child development, intelligence quotient, personality development and development of mental illnesses.
Introduction.
People have diverse personalities depending on where they were brought up and family genetics. As a result it is important to know how nature and nurture influences a person’s development. Nature refers to how genetics influences a person’s personality while nurture refers to how the environment influences one’s development. Environment refers to an individual’s immediate surrounding including home and school. Peoples’ experiences in the environment have a massive influence on their cognitive development. The philosophical debate about whether nature or nurture influences human development has been an issue of contention. Therefore, the primary purpose of this essay is to explore the relationship between nature and nurture in human psychology development and identify their pros and cons.
Nurture vs. Nature.
The nature versus nurture contention is based on the impacts of genetics and environment on human psychology. According to various philosophers and researchers particular factors that affect human development are in-born and therefore, do not have environmental triggers. According to the supporters of this viewpoint, people’s personality traits and behaviours are as due to evolution (Harold et al., 2013). The argument presented by proponents of nature such as Plato and Descartes is that genetic characteristics are passed from parents to offspring and have an impact on people’s unique characteristics. Therefore, a person’s behaviour and cognitive development largely depends on their genes. This implies that parents with undesired behaviours are likely to pass the trait to their children and vice versa.
On the other hand, nurture proponents such as John Locke base his arguments on the tabula rasa concept. According to this concept the mind begins as a blank state and everything that a person does is as a result of their experiences. One of the theories that support this argument is behaviourism theory. According to the theory people’s experiences influence their behaviours and actions. The theory suggests that people can be programmed to become anything, notwithstanding their genetic compositions (Yassin et a., 2018). One’s experiences massively impact their development. For instance, a child who grew up in an abusive environment tends to avoid people as a result of the traumatic experiences. Moreover, a lady who has been heartbroken tends to avoid courtship due to the fear of getting heartbroken again. This, therefore, implies that one’s experiences have a massive impact on their behaviour and overall development.
Nurture plays an essential role in child development. Experience and learning are the foundation of cognitive characteristics and behavioural variations that develop during childhood and adolescence. A child’s upbringing influences how they interact with the rest and influences their psychological development from childhood to adulthood. For instance, a child grows up as a caring individual if the parents are caring. Moreover, a child becomes lazy if the parents are lazy. Most children learn through visualization and hearing. They tend to emulate the things people around them do and that influences their behavioural and cognitive development (Montag et al., 2016). A child that grows up in a noisy environment is likely to emulate the noisy trait. The nurture proponents argue that a child’s environment affects their development. Children learn from people around them and a result their behaviours is dependent on what they learn and not on genetic compositions.
There are numerous theories that support the nurture concept. One of the theories is the social learning theory. According to this theory children learn violent behaviours from the environment through stimulation and observation (Fox, 2017). A child’s behaviour can be shaped by what they see and hear from the people around them. This has a significant impact on their development as adults since the experiences continue to shape their conducts and relationships. A child that is exposed to an environment that fosters learning is more likely to learn quickly compared to the ones in non-learning environment. Consequently, a child that grows up seeing the parents fighting has higher chances of becoming violent as an adult. Indeed nurture has profound impacts on one’s development.
Several Nature advocates argue that it influences one’s intelligence quotient. A person’s intelligence is majorly inherited and the tendency for brilliant siblings to be produced in the same household is the result of natural supremacy. This implies that a person is more likely to have higher intelligence quotient if they parents have the same and vice versa. According to studies 85% of intelligence is hereditary (Glausiusz, 2016). Intelligence assessment studies have shown that the average intelligence quotient of the whites is higher than that of the African-Americans. However, the influence of behavioural genetics on the environment is a hotly debated topic among most environmentalists.
The nurture proponents argue that the bias evident in the assessment methods is responsible for the differences in IQ scores between different racial groups (Tammen et al., 2013). The variation in the IQ of the whites and African-Americans is a result of the minimal education and opportunities open for the blacks. Most individuals living in shanty areas are the blacks and this leads to a lack of exposure making their IQ to be lower compared to the whites. Therefore, it means that one’s environment influences their cognitive development. The contentious debate as to whether one’s intelligence quotient is hereditary or is influenced by the environment continues to fascinate many. It is clear that nature and nurture both influence people’s cognitive development based on the arguments.
Nature advocates argue that it has massive impact on people’s personality development. Through the biological theories of personality genetics play a key role in influencing one’s personality. Several hereditability researches suggest that there is an association between genetics and personality traits. Biological theorists such as Eysenck provide that cortisol stress hormone influences one’s personality and that the stress hormone is hereditary (McNaughton, 2020). According to the theorists individuals with higher cortisol hormone are introverts while those with lower levels of the hormone are extroverts. This implies that one’s personality can be influenced by genes and passed down from parents to children. Even though the biological theorists make it clear using the cortisol hormones, people’s personality is also influenced by their environment. Trait theories also support nature and its impacts on one’s personality. Trait theories such as the five-factor theory argue that numerous fundamental characteristics make up personality. A trait is a reasonably constant personality trait that influences a person’s behaviour. It serves as the basis of a person’s behaviour.
Nurture proponents have developed behavioural theories of personality. According to the theories, a person’s personality is influenced by their interaction with the environment. Theorists such as Skinner and Watson argue that one’s environment influences their behaviour patterns (Tammen et al., 2013). For example children growing up with disciplined parents are more likely to be disciplined in the future. On the contrary a child who lives in abusive environment is more likely to be abusive in the future. The behavioural therapists assert that as one interacts with their environment they tend to learn about various things that shape their behaviour and personalities (Glausiusz, 2016). The impact of nurture on human psychological development is also supported by the psychodynamic theory. According to these theories childhood experiences influences ones behaviour and personality. Children experiences can be traumatic making an individual to develop some personalities and behaviours such hatred towards a specific person or group of people. Therefore, it is essential to have healthy environments that promote effective children’s personality development.
Nature and nurture also play a key role in the development of mental illnesses. According to nature proponents, numerous mental illnesses are hereditary. Some instance a father with schizophrenia is more likely to have schizophrenic offspring. Changes or imbalances of chemicals in one’s brain leads to mental illnesses (Tistarelli et al., 2020). For instance some mental illnesses such as autism spectrum disorder occur as a result of lack of specific chemicals in the brain. Therefore, the nature proponents argue that mental illnesses that affecting one’s mental health majorly occurs as a result of nature. Genetics play an essential role in the development of mental illnesses. Most mental health illnesses occur as a result of the alteration in ones genes. Therefore, nature is key to the development of mental health illnesses.
On the other hand nurture advocates argue that one’s environment influences their mental health. For instance women who drink and smoke while pregnant create an enabling environment for their unborn babies to have mental illnesses (Bartelt, 2014). Moreover, exposure to drugs such cannabis, heroin and cocaine impairs one’s mental functioning leading to illnesses. Children who grow up in abusive environments are more likely to develop depressive symptoms compared to those in conducive environments. As a result nurture also plays a major role in the development of mental illnesses. A person’s environment determines their mental health status. People living in shanty areas have higher chances of becoming depressed compared to those with good living conditions. This is a result of the availability of numerous stressors in the shanties.
The final section and conclusion.
Both nature and nurture plays an essential in an individual’s psychological development. The two concepts are backed by adequate research and evidence to show how they impact human development. However, nurture stands out in this case. One’s environment has more impact on human development than internal factors such as genetics. Scientists have conducted numerous researches for many years to ascertain the impacts of genetics on human development. According to the behavioural studies genetics shapes a person’s behaviour compared to influence from the parents (Bartelt, 2014). Consequently, molecular studies have identified the specific genes that affect one’s behaviour and personality making people to assume that genes are more crucial in human psychological development. However, this assumption is ambiguous and misleading. There have been several critiques of the research about the impact of nature in human psychological development suggesting that it is only the genes responsible for a person’s personality and behaviour.
Even though genetics is important in psychological development it is essential to emphasize that it is does not determine everything as many people try to make it look. There is a need to acknowledge that environmental factors, which involve all the events that occur to people and give them particular identities and have a significant impact on personality. The environment has more influences on psychological development compared to genetics. The environmental factors may cause genetic variations that already exist at birth to become more or less predominant over time (Fox, 2017). For instance in the case of identical twins they personalities varies overtime as they grow from childhood to adulthood. If genetics was the primary influencer of their personality, then it means that identical twins would have similar personalities. However, the continuous variation in their personality is mainly attributed to their environment.
Non-shared environmental effects have more influences on one’s personality compared to genetics. As a result is it is essential to create an environment that fosters positive mental development (Fox, 2017). Children should not be exposed to any form of abuse due to its detrimental impact on their mental health and personality. Mental health experts need to utilize their knowledge of nature and nurture while caring for patients with mental health disorders. For example some mental health disorders requires the professionals to understand whether they have nature or nurture causes and deduce an effective treatment plan. The nature vs. nurture debate continues to be contentious; however, it is good to understand that both impacts human psychology and overall wellness. None is superior to the other; but they both have equal chances of influencing one’s psychology.
References.
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Yassin, A. A., Razak, N. A., & Maasum, T. N. R. T. M. (2018). Cooperative learning: General and theoretical background. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 5(8).
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