Which plays the major role in children’s personality development, nature or nurture?
Over the past few decades there has been an ongoing nature-versus-nurture debate about the causes of children’s personality. To the best of my knowledge, there are many influences on the development of a child’s personality, but the main causes are his genetic makeup, environment, and behavioral genetics.
There is evidence that both genetics and environment affect children’s personality. Studies have shown that the tendency to acquire some personality characteristics – including activity levels, anxiety, aggression, and independence – can be inherited. Although one’s genetic makeup does not determine one’s behavior, it provides a child strong tendency to behave in a particular way.
Personality is also influenced by environment. Thus, a child with particular personality characteristics is more likely to show them if the home environment reinforces them. For example, harshly punishing a child who has a genetically based tendency for aggression contributes further to the child’s aggression.
Major advances have been made through behavioral genetics, the field concerned with the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on individual behavior. For example, if we study the personalities of identical twins who have been separated since birth, we may find that the twins have the same genetic makeup but differ in the environments in which they are reared. Similarities and differences can help reveal the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences.
To sum up, the shaping of a child’s personality is attributed mainly to the role of specific social experiences and environmental events, his genetic makeup as well as the behavioral genetics. (250 words)
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