Preview

Nature vs Nurture

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
529 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Nature vs Nurture
Evolution vs. creationism, pro choice vs. pro life, nature vs. nurture, etc..., these issues will always be debatable. These controversial issues will always divide the population up. Many people tend to put all their beliefsin science or religion. All are highly controversial and will be a major concern until the end of time. Nature is considered your genetic characteristics thatwere given to you at the time of conception. There are strong beliefs that “if mama does it, you will do it”. The individuals that truly believe this ideado tend to follow the footsteps of their parents. Individuals that are not strong enough to surpass their environment willalways fall into this category of prejudice from the environment. “Traditionally, genetics characteristics are considered stable and uncontrollable” (Jayaratne, et al., 2009, p.25). That is saying that a person can’t control the turn out of their life because it has been etched in stoned and there is nothing they can do about it. Nurture is considered to be the environmental characteristics that surround an individual. Our environment plays a big role in the way our lives unfold over time. Many believe that you can be nurtured to act a certain way or accomplish certain goals in a lifetime. “Environmental causes vary more in terms of how much stability and controllability they typically involve, unlike the genetic factors” (p.25). If you’re brought up in a sound environment, you can usually control what course you are going to take in life. There is plenty conversations about nature and nurture. There are many characteristics that we get from nature and there many characteristics that we get from nurture. Even though we can be taught to act a certain way or do certain things, it is our choice to either go with the flow or create your own destiny. Just because we have good genes and a stable environment, doesn’t mean that were are going to be set up for greatness. We have to choose what we want in life. With


References: Crandell, T.L., Crandell, C.H., & Vander Zanden, J.W. (2009). Human development ( 9thed). New York: McGraw Hill. Jayaratne, T.E., Gelman, S.A., Feldbaum, M., Sheldon, J.P., Petty, E.M., & Kardia, S.L.R. (2009). The Perennial Debate: Nature, Nurture, or Choice? Black and White Americans’ Explanations for Individual Differences. Review of General Psychology. 13(1), 24-33.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In the "nature vs nurture" debate, nurture refers to personal experiences (behaviourism). Nurture refers to your childhood, or how you were brought up. Someone could be born with genes to give them a normal height, but be malnourished in childhood, resulting in stunted growth and a failure to develop as expected. Nurture factors that trigger an individual to commit crime are influences by social and environment factors. The nurture debate method argues it is the way an individual is brought up and their circumstances that are more important influences of kind individual they become.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Whether nature or nurture has more of an influence over individual development is debatable and has been a common argument in the field of psychology for a long time. Nature refers to inherited traits and genes given to us at birth which we have no control over, and nurture refers to family, friends or society. The exchange between nature and nurture is dynamic and complex and both nature and nurture cause dynamic and continuous influence on development. The relationship between nature and nurture cannot be explained definitively and it is hard to determine which one influences human development more.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nature vs Nurture

    • 1880 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Please address all correspondence to: Jonathan Grush, 511 S. Elson Apt. 1, Kirksville, MO 63501, (314) 640-1760, jmg6242@truman.edu…

    • 1880 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nurture states that knowledge originates in the environment and comes in through the senses. This…

    • 1686 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nature vs. Nurture

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Nurture has a larger effect on us than does nature. Nurture is the characteristic builder that we gain as we grow up. It is what defines our nature and makes us who we are. Nurture cultivates our nature, and it is the main regulator of our being. How did we get our physical appearance our physical set-up? We got our blue eyes from mother, and our jowl from father. How about our behaviors or skills? Where did we get thrill-seek personality and talent for singing? Did we learn these from our parents or was it determined by our genes? All we know is about nature vs. nurture.…

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thomas Nature Vs Nurture

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nurture refers to environmental influences and socialization. Nurture is a way we learn new things from human beings and our environment. What we learn may have a good or bad effect on the people. For example, if we learn more skills and knowledge, we will use it to succeed in life financially, physically, psychologically, and emotionally stable. However, if we choose to learn to take excessive alcohol or drugs, it will affect the body system negatively most especially the brain.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being nurtured allows people to adjust and adapt to different situations as well as people; nurture allows one to become flexible personally as well as sociably. Nurture is what a person learns from his/her environment and experiences. Nurture is essential to personality development because simple experiences can change a person’s entire look on life. In Frankenstein, the creature states “I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend” (Shelley 114). This statement shows that although nurture can shape a person into a good human being, it can also cause someone…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nature vs Nurture

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There has been extensive debate between scholars in the field of psychology surrounding the Nature vs. Nurture issue. Both nature and nurture determine who we are and neither is solely independent of the other. “As the area of a rectangle is determined by its length and its width, so do biology and experience together create us.”(Myers, 2008, p. 8) Carl Gustav Jung, and leading thinker and creator of analytical psychology, believes: “Human behavior is influenced both by individual experience and also by an innate “collective unconscious” that vests all of us with certain proclivities and tendencies.”(Hayes, 2000, p. 7) From my personal life experience and study of Nature vs. Nurture, I am a firm believer that the two are equally important in determining who we are.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nature vs. Nurture

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There is no denying that both nature and nurture both play a part in who a person is. When it comes to genes and environment one of the two has a greater influence on a person. One’s nurture or environment has the most influence on who a person is and will become. The first reason environment has a greater influence is because education is a result to how someone thinks. The second reason environment has a greater influence on a person is because people around them reflect them as a person. The third reason why environment has a greater influence is because the location of someone affects their views.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nature vs Nurture

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “While each child is born with his or her own distinct genetic potential for physical, social, emotional and cognitive development, the possibilities for reaching that potential remain tied to early life experiences and the parent-child relationship within the family” (Weissbourd, 1996). When a baby is born, that child already posses something in common with every other person in the world, a genetic gene pool. Just like anything else in life, when something is given to a person, the way that person displays what they are given depends on a variety of things. One aspect of human development that has been long debated in the history of psychology is the concept of “nature vs. nurture.” This phrase, first initiated by Sir Francis Galton in 1874 (S. Wood, 2011; E. Wood, 2011; Boyd 2011, p.223), refers to the elements of heredity (nature), and the effects of the environment (nurture). I will briefly discus the various arguments for the primacy of nature or nurture in personality development, intelligence, and creativity.…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The nurture theory argues that human behaviour is the way is it because they were taught that way or grew up in that type of environment. *[1] ’Children raised in healthy, positive environments are more likely to grow into productive successful adults than children raised in negative, threatening environments.’…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nature Vs Nurture

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The nature & nurture issue is a long controversial issue that explains the significance of nature and nurture in several parts of individual development, such as personality, and intelligence. Nature inheritance is genetic behaviors passed from your parents. For example, some people have family genes that enable them to become successful in subjects such as mathematics and science, as well as verbal intelligence. Nurture experiences and learning takes effect after birth. This is what causes psychological characteristics to be established. For instance, if a child grows up in an abusive and dysfunctional home, they are more likely to look for stable and loving care outside the family.…

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nature vs Nurture

    • 969 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There has always been a large controversy over whether inherited genes or the environment influences and affects our personality, development, behavior, intelligence and ability. This controversy is most often recognized as the nature verses nurture conflict. Skinner talked a lot about natural selection in that we, as a species, must choose to learn as we progress to be able to survive as long as possible (Catania, 2003). This theory was a huge part of the battle between nature and nurture because Skinner’s arguments have so much science and testing behind them and his experimenting proved his hypothesis. Some people believe that it is strictly genes that affect our ways of life, others believe that it is the environment that affects us, and some believe that both of these influence our behavior. Either way, social scientists have been struggling for centuries deciding whether our personalities are born or made. Tests are done often on identical twins that were separated to see how they are each influenced by their separate environments.…

    • 969 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nurture over Nature

    • 2253 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Without question, both nurture and nature play significant roles in the development of an individual, both mentally and physically. So, the question remains: which has the greater influence? Nature versus nurture is about the relative importance of an individual 's innate qualities versus their personal experiences in determining differences in physical and behavioral traits in a person. Many aspects of an individual are predetermined by their genes, such as their physical traits and their personality traits; however, these characteristics can be greatly altered by the environment in which the individual is raised. Humans acquire all or most of their behavioral traits from ‘nurture’ this is known as tabula rasa, or blank slate. Beginning with a clean slate at birth, one goes through life gaining experiences and views that shape them into who they grow up to be. The theory of tabula rasa is what many philosophers use to support the view that nurture plays a more important role than nature. There is no power greater than nurture; nothing will affect one more deeply than the way one is raised. Many leading psychologists have tried to prove both sides of this argument including, B.F. Skinner and one of his very well-known studies on children and their IQ’s and IQ development. Torsten Weisel and David Hubel also support this theory through their studies of the influence of parenting in the early months of childhood. John B. Watson is another professional who created an experiment to train a child to have certain feelings towards certain objects, such as animals. Lastly parents and the environment that they are in more or less decide whether their child is going to develop properly during and after pregnancy. As one can see based on these facts nature can be looked at as a…

    • 2253 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The nature vs nurture “dichotomy” is an ongoing debate in psychology which centers around genetic…

    • 1662 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays