Are we born or made this way?
Short answer: It’s both.
The nature vs. nurture debate in psychology centers on such questions.
Verywell / Joshua Seong
Nature and nurture both play a role in who we are.
Nature and Nurture Defined
What exactly do we mean when we talk about nature and nurture?
To better understand the nature vs. nurture argument, it helps to know what each of these terms means.
A few biologically determined characteristics include genetic diseases, eye color, hair color, and skin color.
For example, one child mightlearn through observationandreinforcementto say like and thank you.
Another child might learn to behave aggressively by observing older children engage in violent behavior on the playground.
Advocates of this point of view believe that all of our characteristics and behaviors are the result of evolution.
According to this notion, everything that we are is determined by our experiences.
Eugenics, for example, was a movement heavily influenced by the nativist approach.
An example of an empiricist child development theory is Albert Bandura’ssocial learning theory.
This theory says that people learn by observing the behavior of others.
The answer to this question varies depending on whichpersonality development theoryyou use.
Then there arepsychodynamic theories of personalitythat emphasize the impact of both.
Nature vs. Nurture in Mental Illness Development
Nature and nurture also contribute to mental health development.
Genetics can also contribute to mental illness development, increasing one’s risk of a certain disorder or disease.
Other explanations for mental illness are environmental.
This includes being exposed to environmental toxins, such as drugs or alcohol, while still in utero.
However, genetics (nature) can play a role in treatment as well.
In such studies, research looks at both identical and fraternal twins.
Identical twins have the exact same set of genes.
On the other hand, fraternal twins share about half, much like other full genetic siblings.
In some cases, researchers also look at twins raised together vs. those raised apart.
Doing so allows them to look more closely at how genetic and environmental variables contribute to differences between twins.
Interaction Between Nature and Nurture
Which is stronger: nature or nurture?
For example, perfect pitch is the ability to detect the pitch of a musical tone without any reference.
Researchers have found that this ability tends to run in families and might be tied to a single gene.
Height is another example of a trait influenced by an interaction between nature and nurture.
A child might inherit the genes for height.
A newer field of study that aims to learn more about the interaction between genes and environment isepigenetics.
Epigenetics seeks to explain how environment can impact the way in which genes are expressed.
Some characteristics are biologically determined, such as eye color, hair color, and skin color.
Instead, these influences include genetic factors, environmental factors, and how each intermingles with the other.
The idea that it’s either one or the other is outdated.
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