Personality can be defined as a person's unique behavioural and cognitive patterns. Alternatively, it also refers to a person's unique consistent pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting (AlleyDog, 2011).
According to Powell (2010), it has been reported that, the use of the terms "nature" and "nurture" as a convenient catch-phrase for the roles of heredity and environment in human development can be traced back to 13th century France. In general, debates about nature versus nurture do not refer to physical traits. There is little doubt that a person's hair colour or skin colour is determined by his/her genes. Rather, the nature versus nurture debate seeks to understand how a person develops factors such as personality, behaviours and intelligence (Lending Tree, 2011).
According to McLeod (2007), nature is that which is inherited or genetic, including those appearing through maturation.
On the other hand, nurture refers to all environmental influences after conception, for example experience (ibid.).
The nature argument states that everything a person will ever become, their physical appearance and personality is already decided since their developmental information is in their genes (Stiles, 2011). In contrast, the nurture approach argues that although inherited genes make up the person, they do not limit the potential a person can achieve if the right environment is provided (Lending Tree, 2011).
The major difference between both nature and nurture is that:
· Nature is basically associated with the genetic make-up of an individual while nurture dwells on the environment in which an individual is located.
In my opinion, it is difficult to draw a clear distinction between both nature and nurture approaches in relation to personality development. To some extent our personalities are determined by genetic factors. Our nature as children significantly predicts our behaviour in adulthood. For example some forms of psychopathology are heritable. Environmental factors (family, culture) influence our personality development. I believe genes may affect behaviour directly or may exert an indirect effect in a number of ways. However, in reality, it is most likely that, an interaction of nature and nurture that affect the development of a person. Even in the womb, genes interact with hormones in the environment to signal the start of a new developmental phase (Schmid, 2009). The hormonal environment, likewise, does not act independently of the genes and it cannot correct lethal errors in the genetic makeup of a foetus (ibid.). The genes and the environment must be in sync for normal development (Stiles, 2011). Similarly, even if a person has inherited genes for taller than average height, the person may not grow to be as tall as is genetically possible if proper nutrition is not provided.
Thus, it can be said that, both heredity (nature) and environment (nurture) play a role in shaping our personalities and behaviours.
It is worth mentioning that, nature-nurture is not the same as cause-effect; if you were born that way, then that does not necessarily mean that you will behave that way forever. Personality can change over time.
Gordon Allport was an American psychologist who focused on individuals personalities. He believed that the study of personality could also be characterised in two ways namely nomothetic and idiographic approaches (AlleyDog, 2011).
Nomothetic approach: This is refers to traits and rules of personality that can be generalised to large amounts and types of people (AlleyDog, 2011).
Idiographic approach: This is a way of studying personality through in-depth analysis of one individual and the dimensions relevant to that person’s personality (Burger, 2004).
Thus, Allport attempted to explain personality be answering the question of uniqueness versus universality.
The nomothetic view highlights comparability among individuals but sees people as unique in their combination of traits. This viewpoint sees traits as having the same psychological meaning in everyone. The belief is that people differ only in the amount of each trait. It is this which constitutes their uniqueness. This approach tends to use self-report personality questions and factor analysis. People differ in their positions along a continuum in the same set of traits (Wilderdom, 2004).
The idiographic view on the other hand, underscores that each person has a unique psychological structure and that some traits are possessed by only one person; and that there are times when it is impossible to compare one person with others. This viewpoint also points out that traits may differ in importance from person to person (cardinal, central and secondary traits). It tends to use case studies, bibliographical information and diaries for information gathering (Wilderdom, 2004).
BBC PERSONALITY BIG TEST SUMMARY
My Big Five personality traits
Personality trait | Score (total of 5) | Rating |
Openness | 3.8 | Medium |
Conscientiousness | 4.3 | High |
Extroversion | 3.8 | High |
Agreeableness | 4.6 | High |
Neuroticism | 1.8 | Low |
Openness
This trait is sometimes known as ‘Openness to experience’. People with scores like mine tend to have a fairly broad range of interests. I am also likely to find it easy to come up with original solutions to problems.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness describes how dependable, organised and hard-working a person is likely to be. This may be the reason why, of all the personality traits, Conscientiousness is the most consistent indicator of job success. People with scores like mine tend to be extremely dependable and organised.
Extroversion
Extroversion is characterised by positive emotions and the tendency to seek out pleasure-stimulating or risk-taking activities. People with scores like mine are often perceived as gregarious, expressive and energetic.
Personality studies have shown that scoring highly on Extroversion often translates to a natural capacity for leadership. High Extroversion may also indicate a tendency to earn more than those with lower scores, but the reasons for this are unclear.
Agreeableness
Agreeableness measures how sympathetic and considerate a person is likely to be. People with scores like mine are likely to find it very easy to get along with other people.
Neuroticism
In the context of the Big Five personality traits, the term 'Neuroticism' relates to a person’s response to threatening or stressful situations. People with scores like mine are often seen as being calm and even-tempered. They cope well with stressful situations and may seem tranquil despite adverse circumstances.
Does personality predict my outcomes?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/personality/feedback/life-outcomes
Personality trait | Score | Rating |
Life satisfaction | 5.4/7 | High |
Relationships | 4.4/5 | High |
Job satisfaction | 5/5 | High |
Health | 82.5/100 | High |
Life goals | No preference | Neutral |
CONCLUSION
The nature versus nurture debate is not without its controversies. Some of the issues that have stirred conflict in the debate include homosexuality and obesity. While some scientists strongly believe that both sexuality and weight are inherited, many think that both are shaped, at least in part, by our environment.
It has been suggested that the key to understanding complex human personality is to study genes, the environment, and the interactions between the two equally (Stiles, 2011).
REFERENCES
AlleyDog (2011) Personality [online]. Available from: http://www.alleydog.com/topics/personality.php [Accessed 20 December 2011].
BBC, (2011) The Big Personality Test [online]. British Broadcasting Network. Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/personality/ [Accessed 2nd December 2011].
Burger, J.M. (2004) Personality. 6th ed. Wadsworth: Thompson Learning.
Lending Tree (2011) Nature versus Nurture: Genetics and Environment [online]. Available from: http://www.nurture-or-nature.com/articles/nature-versus-nurture/index.php [Accessed 20 December 2011].
McLeod, S. A. (2007) Simply Psychology; Nature Nurture in Psychology [online]. Available from: http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html [Accessed 20 December 2011].
Powell, K. (2010) Nature vs. Nurture: Are We Really Born That Way? [online]. Available from: http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/nature_nurture.htm [Accessed 20 December 2011].
Schmid, R. (2009). Nature vs. nurture begins in the womb [online]. Discovery Channel. Available from: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/03/nature-nurture.html. [Accessed 20 December 2011].
Stiles, J. (2011) Brain development and the nature versus nurture debate. Progress in Brain Research. 189,pp. 3-22.
