Running head: PERSONALITY – IMPACTED BY NURTURE OR NATURE 1
Running header: PERSONALITY- IMPACTED BY NURTURE OR NATURE? 1
The Impact Environmental Factors Have on an Individuals Personality, Behavior, and Health.
Tristen West
Eastern Florida State College
The Impact Environmental Factors Have on an Individuals Personality, Behavior, and Health.
Introduction
Nature versus nurture has been a topic debated among students and psychologists alike for hundreds of years. Philosophers like Plato and Descartes stated that behaviors are “inborn”, and nativists believe that humans are nothing but products of evolution whereas empiricists believe that humans are a product of their experiences. (Eman Zaky, 2015 P.2) According to Saul Mcleod (2017), from Nature vs. Nurture in Psychology nature vs. nurture is defined as how much of human personality and behavior is influenced by either “inherited or acquired characteristics,” or more accurately “genetic or environmental.” Nature revolves around the idea that human behavior is determined by genes and other biological processes like hormones and gender. Whereas nurture on the opposite side of the spectrum can be defined as behavior influenced by outside factors post birth such as parenting, physical environment, and culture. (Kendra Cherry, 2018) Furthermore, the nurture versus nature pendulum has been shifting back and forth for decades and seems like it’s a tie. (Tinca Polderman, 2015 P.1) However, conclusive evidence and new scientific research now support the empiricist idea that human behavior is caused by numerous environmental factors but most predominately family, cultural and physical environment factors.
Family
Family life can be broken down into many individual factors including siblings, parenting, birth order, level of income, and parent relationship. The family life of an individual and the personality, behavior, and mental health of that individual are directly correlated. For instance, a study found that having no siblings, a person’s birth order, and their socioeconomic status affected a person’s extraversion (talkativeness, activity, will, anxiety, rule keeping), maturity, and intellect by 8-14% (Nakao et all., 2014 P.9). This shows how family factors play such a crucial role in an individual person’s personality. Furthermore, negative events in an individual’s family life, such as domestic violence and child abuse profoundly effect the individual later in life particularly in mental health. In fact, an article on Domestic Violence and Child Rearing found a 3% increase in depression in children witnessing domestic violence as compared to children who witnessed no domestic violence (Bharath, 2014 P.105) Parents are failing to realize just how great the impact they have on their children’s lives. Children from the moment they are born are taking information their parents give them and forming their own behavior based on the behavior of their parents. Children who live in stable homes with...
