Nature versus Nurture is figuring out whether biological factors such as heredity impacts human behavior such as intelligence or if whether the environment impacts human behavior. We all share our parents DNA in the physical sense, for example, being tall or having long legs like your dad does, or having green eyes like your mom. The nature versus nurture debate is trying to figure out where your love of reading or your athletic abilities come from. This debate between nature and nurture is an on going thing.
Two of my own personal characteristics nature is that I have long legs and I am very tall just like my dad. I decided that that characteristic is nature because it has to do with the genetics between both my dad and I. I also have blue eyes just like my mom and we have quite a few of the same facial features. I have to say that I most definitely get my outgoing personality from both of my parents. When dealing with nurture the characteristics that come to mind are my love for country music, just like my dad and my love of eating pasta is from both of my parents once again. One characteristic that supports both sides is my love for accessorizing with jewelry and shopping. I was raised mostly around woman. My 3 role models as a little girl were my mom and my grandmothers. We all shared the love for accessorizing and wearing lots of beautiful jewelry. I would say that that’s what we bonded over the most, and still do to this very day.
- I chose this as nurture. Katie got her love of strawberry jam on toast from witnessing her dad eat it and then by her trying it out herself, she is able to decide if she likes it or not. This supports nurture side as she is influenced by her daily family life and parental influences. Katie could have just wanted to be like her dad and try it out and it turns out she personally enjoys it. Katie also could have been brought up watching her dad eat it every day and so maybe it is their father daughter ritual due to the environment and their daily life. (Kail, P. 59)
- I chose both for this one. Ernest was able to live to be the age of 101 because he was brought up healthy and able to have a happy life. He was exposed to a good living environment and also good health. Ernest could also have longevity in his genes, and could also have healthy genes within his family. Ernest learned to live a healthy lifestyle through his experiences throughout his life. (McLeud, 2007)
- I chose both for this one. The fact that Justin gets into fights and loses his temper has to come down to his social and environmental factors. He might have social or anger problems and that would be based on the environment that he is exposed to. When a child is brought up by parents that have been exposed to anger and social problems themselves, there is a chance that their child could also have anger issues like their parents. However, when someone is losing his or her temper that cannot be based on genetics completely, the environment in my opinion has a big part in the situation as a whole. Parents with behavior issues find it very difficult to raise the child and it is difficult to maintain the behavior and therefore the child suffers which has a negative impact on the child’s environment. (Powell, 2014)
- I chose both for this one. John’s coming out of being gay is more likely to not be based on genetics. If one discovers that they are gay that is a personal decision based on personal experiences for that person. In my opinion, a person is not born gay. There is a huge debate on this topic and there really is no right or wrong answer.
- I chose nature for this one. Sarah’s impressive knowledge was more than likely passed down from her parents. Her parents passed on genotypes to Sarah, which then provide the early environment for their child Sarah. If Sarah’s dad had an impressive knowledge, it would more than likely be passed onto Sarah. (Kail, P67)
- I chose nurture for this one. In order for Olivia to love the color pink, she would have had to be exposed to it in some way or another. The color pink itself has a lot of positive feedback. Olivia could have been given that positive feedback about the color pink. For example, maybe her parents painted her room pink or maybe her dolls dresses were pink. There are many reasons as to why she was exposed to the color pink. The initial decision if she liked the color pink or not is hers. She might like the color pink as a little girl, but when she grows up she could change her mind.
