Question

Does nature play a more significant role, or does nurture play a more significant role in shaping human behavior? Or is it a combination of both?

Answer 1

Nature refers to all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are—from our physical appearance to our personality characteristics.

Nurture refers to all the environmental variables that impact that we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture.

Some philosophers such as Plato and Descartes suggested that certain things are inborn, or that they occur naturally regardless of environmental influences. Nativists take the position that all or most behaviors and characteristics are the results of inheritance.

A few examples of biologically determined characteristics (nature) include certain genetic diseases, eye color, hair color, and skin color. Other things like life expectancy and height have a strong biological component, but they are also influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle.

Throughout the history of psychology, however, this debate has continued to stir up controversy. Psychologist Francis Galton, a cousin of the naturalist Charles Darwin, coined both the terms nature versus nurture and eugenics and believed that intelligence was the result of genetics.

Today, the majority of experts believe that both nature and nurture influence behavior and development.