Scholars have been debating for many centuries which of the two factors, namely genetic inheritance, and the environmental surroundings, affect a person’s development, behavior, and character more. Some scientists have argued that ‘nature’ determines most of the individual physical features and mental abilities; others assert that most human traits are socially determined. Yet, an increasing number of specialists nowadays agree that both factors are important and highly interconnected (Cherry, 2020). Previous research found that certain genes that a person possesses can only be activated under favoring ‘nurture’ conditions (Sravanti, 2017). For instance, a person can be genetically predisposed to be tall, but negative socio-economic conditions during the active growth period can significantly undermine the biological impact. Still, the researchers intend to study the extent of influence each factor has separately.
Except for the strictly biological features, gains are also found to determine people’s mental abilities and psychological characteristics. As for the former, scholars discovered that identical twins possess almost equal intellectual abilities, which is not observable among fraternal twins (Cherry, 2021). Moreover, siblings raised by the same parents tend to have more similar intelligence levels than non-related kids who grew up in one family (Cherry, 2021). Similarly, previous research identified genes related to a person’s propensity to develop mood disorders or suffer from depression (Wong et al., 2017). On the other hand, it was also found that school attendance and length of breastfeeding positively affect an individual’s intelligence (Cherry, 2021). Additionally, behavioral psychology experiments reveal that people can develop specific behavioral and emotional responses to certain scenarios solely due to manipulation in the external environment (Cherry, 2020). Therefore, ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ are quite inseparable processes that should be viewed and studied together.
As for me, similar to the prevailing scientific views, I believe that the interaction of genes and the surrounding environment is responsible for a person’s development. However, I consider ‘nurture’ slightly more important than ‘nature’ in development. In my opinion, human biology is organized in a manner that not only allows but welcomes external changes and can adapt to them. For this reason, individuals’ characters and behavior can transform throughout life, sometimes in opposite directions. Such a condition would not be possible if genes had more influence on decisions and traits as they remain almost unchanged throughout a person’s life.
References
Cherry, K. (2021). Genetic and environmental influences on intelligence. Verywell Mind.
Cherry, K. (2020). The age-old debate of nature vs. nurture. Verywell Mind.
Sravanti, L. (2017). Nurture nature. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 59(3), 385.
Wong, M. L., Arcos-Burgos, M., Liu, S., Velez, J. I., Yu, C., Baune, B. T., Jawahar, M. C., Arolt, V., Dannlowski, U., Chuah, A., Huttley, G. A., Fogarty, R., Lewis, M. D., Bornstein, S. R., & Licinio, J. (2017). The PHF21B gene is associated with major depression and modulates the stress response. Molecular Psychiatry, 22(7), 1015-1025.