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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,

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