Nature Vs Nurture: What Is Common and What Are Differences

The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest debates in psychology. The nature aspect, which is the more scientific theory of the two, is the idea that genes have a greater impact on a person’s development. The nurture aspect is centered around if a person’s environment has a more significant impact on a person’s development. Scientists know for a fact that eye color, hair color, height, and other similar traits are in our genetic makeup. However, there is no way for scientists to tell if intelligence, personality, likes and dislikes, and sexual orientation are coded in a person’s DNA.

The biggest studies that people who debate on this theory look at are ones where twins are separated at birth.

Scientists look at these twins to see if the two have any differences in the way they two act, their likes and dislikes, and even their sexuality. They look at these things to see if they are caused by the way the twin was raised, or if it is just in their genes.

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One of the most famous sets of twins that were separated at birth is Jim Springer and Jim Lewis, also known as the “Jim Twins (Rindskopf).” The two were separated at four weeks and then reunited at the age of 39. The set discovered that they both suffered from headaches, both enjoyed drinking and smoking, both drove Chevrolet’s, both were married twice, and both had children named after them. This case study is an excellent one where the twins’ nature had more in play on their development rather than their nurture.

In the debate, there are three main ideas: behavior, personality, and intelligence.

The behavior category in the nature versus nurture debate can be seen in both ways. On the nature side, behavior can be explained by how a person’s brain is wired to act a certain way. Depression, for example, is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Depression affects a person’s behavior in many ways. Depression is a biological explanation of why some people are anxious, irritable, have a loss of interest, and have general feelings of sadness. However, take for example the Ferguson, Missouri riots that occurred in August of 2014. According to the Buchanan of the New York Times, the town of Ferguson came together due to a local teen getting shot by a local police officer. However, the town did not come together in a well-behaved manner. The town broke out in riots and civil unrest. The protests began the day after the shooting occurred, which all started with one person. If the environment around those people in Ferguson would have been calmer, the riots and city-wide looting might not have been a result of the shooting. This could very well be an example of the nurture side of the debate because it shows that surroundings in the environment can affect how a person reacts to a situation. Behavior can be shown in both aspects of nature and nurture, as can personality.

Personality can be defined as a combination of both characteristics and qualities that form a distinctive character in one person. Nature can have a huge effect on a person’s personality because if someone grows up in a rough part of town, they might not act the same way as someone that grows up in a normal, middle-class neighborhood. The person that grows up in a rough neighborhood might be rougher around the edges and harder to understand. While the subject that grows up in a middle-class neighborhood might be more willing to work and more understanding. A study done by Dr. Nick Royle of biosciences at the University of Exeter took zebra finches and measured their personalities by placing them in a new environment and counting the number of different features they visited (University of Exeter). Some of the finches were shy, while others were more outgoing and moved from place to place. The males and females were then brought together and allowed to breed. The eggs were then separated from their parents and given to another couple of birds to be raised by the new foster parents. The results proved that non-genetic transfer of behavior can have a huge role in shaping the finch’s personality. It is believed that personality leans more towards the nurture side of the debate because in most cases, a subject learns from what they see, not from what they inherited from their parents.

In the book “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote, the 17-year-old daughter, Nancy Clutter, was a go-getter. Nancy was extremely involved in the community and did everything she could to help out the younger girls in her hometown of Holcomb. For example, Nancy got a call one afternoon from a young girl in the town, Jolene. Jolene’s mother asks if Nancy could teach Jolene how to bake a cherry pie. When Nancy realizes that she has many other things to do that day, including helping another young girl, Roxie, with her trumpet solo. Her father, Herb Clutter was like that as well, actively involved in the community and was always helping others. For instance, Mr. Clutter drives a friend, Mrs. Ashida home from a 4-H meeting that was in Garden City. Mr. Clutter shows that he will go out of his way to help a friend. Nancy more than likely observed her father acting that way and wanted to act that way as well. Nancy and her father Herb are excellent examples of the nurture aspect of the debate.

In conclusion, nature could very easily be just as important as nurture. Nature is what is in a subject's genes, and nurture is what is learned and observed around a subject. Psychologists have debated this topic for many years. No psychologist, however, has proven which one is the more important one. There have been multiple studies on both sides of the debate and although they are intensive and seem to prove the topic they are studying, nothing is for sure.