Personality: Combination of Nature and Nurture - Literature review Example

Personality: Combination Of Nature And Nurture of the of the Introduction Personality is one of the most interesting aspects of a human being. People working in the filed of psychology are intrigued by the different natures and behaviour of people. Most of the times, people describe other people on the basis of their behaviour patterns and personality traits (Engler, 2009, 261). Personality plays an important role in formation of social identity. Hence, having a dynamic and positive personality is every human being’s dream. However, it is not that easy to achieve. Many a times, people are not able to control their negative traits like anger, aggression, addiction etc. The fact that people cannot control their behaviour shows that there are many aspects of mind that work ‘behind the scenes’ and control the personality pattern of a person. This fact encouraged psychologists to find out what really forms the personality of a person. The research into the root cause of personality has revealed that personality is not just a result of the mental and emotional pattern of a person, but is also based on the biological factors of a person. However, to avoid this fact getting misused by selfish and misguided leaders like Hitler, who was capable of using the biological data to eliminate other groups by asserting the alleged superiority over them, the psychologists shied away from studying and discussing the biological basis of personality for much of the twentieth century (Engler, 2009, 261). However, the contemporary researches in psychology have proven beyond doubt that biological factors are the basis for many of the personality characters (Engler, 2009, 261). This revelation has also led to the ‘nature vs. nurture’ debate. However, researches in the field of psychology have revealed that personality is influenced by the biological factors like genes and heredity. As it is the biological factors that decide how a person will react to the environmental factors, accepting the role of biological factors in development of personality will be beneficial for people as it will help them in developing a positive personality by understanding the genetic make-up and shaping the personality accordingly. Definition Personality Personality of a human being is a combination of various aspects of human being. Hence, it is complex and difficult to define it. Cattell (1950), when studying personality, formed a tentative but appropriate definition of personality (Engler, 2009, 287). He defined personality as a part of a human being “that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation” (Engler, 2009, 287). This was a simple definition and Cattell had realized that there was a need of further investigation in order to form an in depth definition of personality (Engler, 2009, 287). It was Gordon Allport who did a thorough investigation into the definition of personality, and after working on more than fifty definitions over period of many years, he finally came up with the most suitable definition in the year 1961, that encompassed almost all the aspects of personality (Engler, 2009, 264). According to Gordon Allport,“ personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determines his characteristic behaviour and thought” (Engler, 2009, 264). This definition is one of the complete definitions of personality as it states all the aspects of personality in detail (Engler, 2009, 264). This definition shows that personality is not static but changes with growth, “is structured in nature, involves not only the mental aspects but also the physical aspects of a person, is made of the past influences and predisposition of the future and is unique to the individual” (Engler, 2009, 264). In this way, Allport’s definition is short but precise. At the same time, it also accepts that biological factors play an essential role in the formation of personality. Innate Tendencies Research studies in the field of psychology have proved that biological factors do influence the behaviour pattern of a person. Hence, biological factors are those “innate tendencies or predispositions” in human beings that are responsible for influencing the developmental and learning pattern of a person by either inhibiting or facilitating certain characters and traits in personality (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). The biological factors that influence and determine the personality of human beings are heredity, brain structure and physical features of a person (Bhatia, 2010, p. 16). At the same time, it is also revealed that biological factors are not the only determinants in the development of a personality (Bhatia, 2010, p. 15). They interact with other factors like culture, society and family to form a personality of a person (Bhatia, 2010, p. 15). However, it has also been proved that biological factors have a strong role to play in the development of personality. Biological Factors Importance Of Biological Factors Role of biological factors is considered as vital in personality development as they are the only factors on which human beings do not have any control (Bhatia, 2010, p. 16). Their impact is one-sided as a person cannot interact with it and change it as he can do with other factors like environment, family, culture etc (Bhatia, 2010, p. 16). More than thirty years of research in the field of psychology has revealed that personality, people’s behaviour, and the way they react to their surrounding is influenced not by their conscious mind but by their DNA (Wright, 1999, P. 4). According to the evolution theory, the genes that help in adapting to the environmental situations and protecting self from the predators, are passed on to the next generation and hence, only those behaviours that are beneficial for the growth and evolution of human beings are transmitted through biological factors or innate tendencies (Bernstein, 2011, p.15). The biological factors that shape the personality of human beings are heredity, brain structure and physical features. However, the most important biological factor that is responsible for development of personality characters is the heredity or genetic disposition. Heredity Biological heredity is “the full set of biological processes through which characteristics are transmitted from parents to off-spring” (Caprara & Cervone, 2000, p. 159). The chromosomes of the germ cells make it possible for the transmission of personality characters from ancestors to the descendant (Bhatia, 2010, p. 16). It has been found that genes influence human being’s psychological characters like temperament, personality, behaviour pattern etc., and not only the physical characters like colour of hair, eyes, height, skin texture, etc(Wright, 1999, P. 5). According to Allport, human being reflects both, the heredity and the environment, through his personality (Schultz, D. & Schultz, E., 2005, p. 255). The environment plays a role of shaping, expanding or limiting the inherent qualities like physique, intelligence and temperament, which are given to man by his biological factors (Schultz, D. & Schultz, E., 2005, p. 255). Moreover, Allport has suggested that it is due to the genes of human beings that one gets to see uniqueness in every human being (Schultz, D. & Schultz, E., 2005, p. 255). Hence, the role of genes simply cannot be discarded in personality development. Moreover, the fact that biological factors are responsible for many of the psychological and emotional aspects of a person, has been proved by different studies involving twins. Studies Of Twins The most revealing studies about the role of genes in development of behaviour and personality are the studies conducted on identical wins. Research by Bolton et al.( 2006) and Jacobson et al (2002) has found that if one twin is suffering from anxiety disorder, then the other identical twin is more likely to suffer from anxiety disorder as they share the same genes (Bernstein, 2011, p.476). The role of genes in development of personality is proved more strongly by the fact that genes are responsible in developing not just general characters but even the specific aspects like specific fears and disorders. For example, study by Skre et al. (2000) has revealed that phobias of small animals and social situations, but not about heights or enclosed spaces, are shared more by identical twins than other siblings (Bernstein, 2011, p.476). This shows that genes play a great role in shaping the psychological and emotional aspects of human beings. However, psychologists have also observed that most of the times, those certain behaviours that are beneficial for human beings are more commonly transmitted through the biological factors. Biological Factors Related Behaviours Human beings have a tendency to learn some skills naturally and very quickly than others. Researchers have observed that ‘behaviour of playing’ is easily and effortlessly learned by animals and human beings (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). According to Beckoff (2001), it is the innate biological factors that predispose the animals and human beings to learn play, as play behaviour helps in developing social relationships with peers and are useful for adult roles and hence, have adaptive function in development of a person (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). This shows that animals and human beings learn certain behaviours easily and effortlessly because they are predisposed to those behaviours due to their biological factors (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). Similarly, behaviours of imprinting and preparedness are also the result of the biological factors. ‘Imprinting’ is the “inherited tendency or response that is displayed by newborn animals when they encounter certain stimuli in their environment” (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). It has been observed that new born animal babies follow their mothers as soon as they are born (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). Moreover, it has been observed that the new born displays this behaviour without learning it from anyone (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). This is called imprinting. Imprinting is unlearned behaviour and is formed due to the biological factors (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). Also, it has a great survival value as it protects new born babies from the predators by keeping them in close vicinity of their mothers (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). In the same way, human beings can learn to speak easily and effortlessly due to the ‘preparedness’ of their biological factors like brain and vocal apparatus (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). According to Pinker (1994), human beings are ‘innately wired’ or their brains are biologically prepared to learn to speak (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2011, p. 228). Hence, learning to speak comes naturally to human beings. Sadly, while some genes are responsible for the development of adaptive behaviour pattern in human beings, others are responsible for development of negative qualities like anger and aggression. Testosterone Initially, psychologists who refused to accept the role of biological factors in personality development believed that social factors play a major role in development of different behaviour patterns in boys and girls. However, Maccoby and Jacklin (1980) strongly suggested that the difference in aggression levels between males and females is due to the biological factors of testosterone (Shaffer, 2009, p. 304). They have observed that in every society throughout the world, males are more aggressive than females (Shaffer, 2009, p. 304). Secondly, it was found by Baillargeon et al(2007) that social factors or parental upbringing is not the sole reason for the aggressive behaviour in males as the study revealed that aggression in males appear as early as 17 months (Shaffer, 2009, p. 304). This leaves out the possibility of males getting trained to be more aggressive than females through the social factors. More importantly, it has also been found that the tendency of heightened activity, over aggressive behaviour and readiness to anger in males is due to the presence of male hormones known as testosterone (Shaffer, 2009, p. 304). Moreover, Dabbs et al. (1995) have also found that boys who involve themselves in bullying, verbal aggressiveness, abusiveness, violence and delinquency, have higher levels of testosterones than the boys who are non-aggressive and non-violent in their behaviour (Shaffer, 2009, p. 304). This clearly shows that the biological factor like testosterone plays a great role in development of behaviour of aggression in human beings. One more trait that was studied extensively for genetic relation was the trait of extroversion and introversion. Plomin et al. (1998) found that personality traits are passed on from parents to their off-springs only if complex combination of more than one gene is present (Burger, 2011, p. 258). Pedersen et al (1988) conducted a study on more than 300 twins to find if genes are responsible for the development of extroversion in personality of a person (Burger, 2011, p. 260). They found that a certain set of genetic combination is responsible for the development of personality traits of introversion and extroversion in a person (Burger, 2011, p. 260). This shows that it is not just one gene but the ‘combination’ of genes that are responsible for the genetic transmission of personality characters. Molecular Genetics According to Plomin and Caspi (1998), the genes that are responsible for the development of certain specific personality characters can be identified through the technique of molecular genetics (Magnavita, 2002, p. 179). Psychologists believe that if the genes responsible for development of negative characters in the personality are altered, then it will not develop the negative character in personality. This idea of modification of genetic structure through the technique of molecular genetics is the hope for future and can bring revolution in field of psychology (Magnavita, 2002, p. 181). However, the possibility of breaking the ethical and safety barriers has stopped this technology from being applied to human beings (Magnavita, 2002, p. 181). However, molecular genetic has contributed immensely in revealing the role of biological factors in the development of personality in human beings. Conclusion The literature review has revealed that even though environment plays a strong role in development of a personality and behaviour, it is the biological factors like genes and heredity that are responsible for endowing them with certain characters like intelligence, physique, aggression etc. Hence, the only thing that human beings can do is to make the best of what is available genetically, by shaping and expanding the personality with the help of environmental factors. Hence, accepting the role of genes in personality development is beneficial for people as it can help them to mould and shape the inherited characters by shaping and moulding them into behaviour patterns they desire. References Bernstein, D.A. (2011). Essentials of Psychology(5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Bhatia, R.C. (2010). Personality Development. New Delhi, IN: Ane Books Pvt. Ltd. Burger, J.M. (2011). Personality (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Caprara, G.V. & Cervone, D. (2000). Personality: Determinants, Dynamics, And Potentials. Cambridge : Cambridge University  Press. Engler, B. (2009). Personality Theories: An Introduction (8th ed.). New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Magnavita, J.J. (2002). Theories Of Personality: Contemporary Approaches To The Science Of Personality. New York, NY:John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Plotnik, R. & Kouyoumdjian, H. (2011). Intriduction to Psychology (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Schultz, D.P. & Schultz, E.S. (2005). Theories Of Personality (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomas Wadsworth Shaffer, D.R. (2009). Social And Personality Development (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning Wright, W. (1999). Born That Way: Genes, Behavior, Personality. New York, NY: Routledge. Read More