Essay about Nature vs. Nurture Controversy - 758 Words

There is a big controversy between whether inherited genes or the environment influences and effects our personality, development, behavior, intelligence and ability. This controversy is most often recognized as the nature verses nurture conflict. Some people believe that it is strictly genes that effect our ways of life, others believe that it is the environment that effects us, and some believe that both of these influence us. 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 influenced. In the past twenty years, it has been discovered that there is a genetic component to about every human†¦show more content†¦The first one is called a passive correlation. It is to be explained as, for example, if a musical ability was genetic, and a child was passed a musical ability trait, than the child would most likely have musically incli ned parents. Their parents then would provide them with the genes and environment to promote the development of that ability. The second one is called evocative. This happens when genetically distinct people evoke different reactions from peers and parents and others. And the third association is called an active correlation. This is when people actively select experiences that fit with their genetically influenced preferences. This doesnt mean that there are no environmental influences on behavior, because, for example, it is found to be that a loss of a parent during childhood promotes alcoholism in women. It is shown that genetics play a big role on influences in people and society. Leadership is a big quality that everyone has and has a wide range of variations. Heritability is what researchers call the degree to which behavioral variations within a population can be accounted for by genes. Heritability is what is found to make up a lot of ones personality. For a while, scientis ts have been trying to draw a line between heredity and leadership also. There is no single leadership personality. Even intelligence can go so far with leadership. It also involves how people make decisions, and how they give and carry out rules,Show MoreRelatedNature vs. Nurture1117 Words   |  5 PagesThe nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in sociology (Davidson, 1991, n.p.). The debate centers on the relative contributions of genetics and environmental factors to human behavior (Davidson, 1991, n.p.). Today, the majority of experts believe that behavior and development are influenced by both nature and nurture (Macionis, 2009, p. 73). The biggest question now is which one affects human development more: nature or nurture? According to Macionis (2009, p. 72), in the pastRead MoreNature vs Nurture Essay804 Words   |  3 PagesThe controversy of nature vs. nurture has been disputed for years. Nature vs. nurture refers to the question of which factors are most significant in determining development; those related to heredity or environment. It has been reported that some scientists think that â€Å"nature† is referred as the importance in heredity as the major determinate also known as â€Å"nature† the theory of human behavior. The nurture theory scientists believe that people think and behave in certain ways because they areRead MoreEssay on Nature vs Nurture1052 Words   |  5 PagesNature vs. Nurture M. B. Liberty University Psychology 101 Nature vs. Nurture 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. â€Å"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 analyticalRead MoreNature vs. Nurture: Parents or Environment Essay example571 Words   |  3 Pagesunderstand, thus making the topic of nature vs. nurture extremely controversial. The debates always show that nature and nurture contrast but then there may be evidence that suggest that the two are linked and a person is actually an enigma characterized by the mixture of predisposed genetics and environmental influences. The idea that nature and nurture are joined is great to oppose nativists, people on the nature side, and empiricists, people sided with nurture. As mention ed before, the topic isRead MoreChild Development: Heredity and Environment1240 Words   |  5 Pagesbetween nature versus nurture or even environment versus heredity leads to the question of: does the direct environment or the nature surrounding an adolescent directly influence acts of delinquency, later progressing further into more radical crimes such as murder or psychotic manifestation, or is it directly linked to the hereditary traits and genes passed down from that individual adolescent’s biological parents? To answer this question one must first understand the difference between nature, nurtureRead MoreNature vs. Nurture1218 Words   |  5 Pagesenvironments that they grew up in play a part in making who they are? In the nature vs. nurture controversy, nature proclaims that our genetic make-up plays the primary role in human development, while nurture declares that our environment dictates our development. The nature vs. nurture controversy is an age old question in the scientific and psychological world with both camps having evidence to support their theories. The controversy lies in which is more influential in the development of human beingsRead MoreSerial Killers1314 Words   |  6 Pagesthe bigger controversies today is the debate over nature versus nurture. With that debate going on there are many topics that are being researched under it, like serial killers, and what drives them to do what they do. Many scientists are still researching whether or not if serial killers are driven by the way they were raised or if it is a part of their genes. This literature review will analyze what people think about the nature versus nurture debate. It will talk about the nature side and theRead MoreThe Evolutionary Factors That Have Shaped The Genetics That We Inherit From Our Parents1049 Words   |  5 PagesINTRODUCTION NATURE This refers to all the evolutionary factors that have that have shaped the genetics that we inherit from our parents. Nature determine the range of our human potential.Naturists believe that the knowledge humans have about the world is innate. Therefore human development is determined by heredity. NURTURE This has to deal with our environment; it refers to all the environmental factors that have influenced us since we began to grow. Nurture affects the way our human potentialRead More Postion Paper: Nature Vs. Nurture712 Words   |  3 Pages Position Paper: Nature vs. Nurture nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The controversy of nature vs. nurture has been going on for many years, and a decision has not yet been reached in which one is the most affective. Using the results of the countless tests done, everyday situations, and the twins experiment, I will prove that nature is a larger contributor to the outcome of our personalities than nurture. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Firstly, many psychologists and Universities, such as Harvard,Read MoreNature vs Nurture, a Not Quite a Twin1684 Words   |  7 PagesNature vs Nurture A Not Quite Twin Study Tamara Richardson Seminole State College of Florida Abstract This paper is going to discuss the Nature vs Nurture debate. There will be history of the debate, where it is presently and where it may go in the future. We will look at the beginning of the debate, the battle that started with Descartes and was pushed further by BF Skinner, Bandura and Piaget. We will further look at Bandura and Piaget and look at Social learning theory verses biology. Interviews