In the ongoing debate of nature vs. nurture, scientists continue to research whether nature or the environment has more of an influence on physical and behavioral characteristics and traits. The nature versus nurture theory was first coined to determine whether nature (or genetic traits) have more of an influence on characteristics including personality than nurturing, or the environment in which one is born and raised in (Collins, 2012). Environment includes many different factors, including one’s socioeconomic conditions, one’s parents, one’s home, one’s food, one’s education… all of these can influence traits including one’s attitude, intelligence, height, weight, preferences, status, or so it is believed by some researchers (Collins, 2012). The nature argument suggests that individuals are born with certain characteristics that can only modestly be influenced by nurturing influences or environmental influences over time. Researchers have consistently debated the extent to which nurturing or environment can truly influence one’s behavioral and personality traits (Rockoff, 2013). To that extent many studies have explored the effects of nature vs. nurturing, examining the link between genetics, environment, and behavior or trait-specific tendencies.
This paper explores two studies in an attempt to answer whether nature or nurture is more predominant in influencing traits. Specifically, it is important to analyze how strong environmental factors are in determining behavioral and personality traits. The studies explored for this paper examine how strong nature is in influencing one’s behavioral and personality traits in twins. Historically researchers have turned to twins for exploring how nature and nurture influence personality. Identical twins have strong DNA ties that lend credibility to the nature argument.
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"Nature vs. Nurture: Analysis and Controversy".
The first research study examined for this debate is the case of, Nature vs. Nurture: Outcome Depends on Where You Live. This research study was carried out to explore the influence of environmental factors compared to natural and genetic factors on behavioral traits by King’s College of London. Researchers set out to explore the DNA of 6,759 identical and non-identical twins throughout the UK; scientists explored whether nature (genes) or environmental factors were more influential in determining behavioral and personality traits among study participants (Collins,2012). This particular study explored 45 different childhood characteristics, including attitude, preferences, language, verbal ability, reading, IQ, and related traits (Collins, 2012). The study revealed that in the UK, certain traits were more influenced by environmental or nurturing influences; but only in certain areas. However, other characteristics were more influenced by genetic or natural traits. For example, some traits were inevitably the result of genes. The traits most complex including language, verbal ability, IQ, and visual analysis often resulted in DNA relationship, or resulted in a relationship the researchers may attribute to having a “genetic” link (Collins, 2012). This lends credibility to the nature argument.
This coincided with the results of a study carried out on 137 sets of identical twins in Minnesota (KempJackson, 2011). This study, conducted as a result of a study first referred to as the Jim Twins Study, is most notable in its examination of two sets of twins in particular, known as the “Jim Twins,” who are two identical twins that were separated at birth, and raised by two different families. These twins, who reconnected much later in life, learned they lived nearly a parallel life, marrying wives with the same names, choosing the same pets, wives with the same names, and sharing the same beers. There is no explanation for the coincidences, other than to suggest that genes are to attribute for their shared preferences. The twins were raised by families that were completely different, taking out the nurture theory. These twins influenced the researchers in Minnesota to conduct the study. The Minnesota Study of Twins like the UK study explored characteristics including personality, intelligence, human nature, verbal ability, and more.
The Minnesota study revealed that certain characteristics, including IQ, were related more to nature, or genetics, rather than environment and training. The study suggests that the role of genetics in “the determination of at least a few key personality benchmarks and behaviors cannot be ignored” (Kempjackson, 2011). In many cases, the study suggests that certain personality traits including those relative to behavior and character, as in the other study, are “hard-wired” such as the twin’s decisions regarding their selection of beverages, animals, or preference with regard to preferred companions (KempJackson, 2011).
Rockoff (2013) suggests that variations in genes, particularly genes including the DRD4, which regulate certain neurotransmitters in the brain, may specifically influence behavioral traits including those responsible for nature, including sensitivity, aggression, and one’s inclination toward positive or negative behaviors. Children who act out more or less, or those that are more sensitive to their environment, may simply be affected more or less by their DNA, rather than their environment, as per a 2010 study of 338 children as reflected in the journal Child Development (Rockoff, 2013). While there is no doubt that nurture can have some influence in changing children’s behavior and personality trait, the extent to which environment can influence children’s behavior or personality may indeed be limited by genetic tendency, as these studies suggest. This latest study suggested that mothers with particular genetic variations were more likely to “yell, curse and slap children as the economy plunged, than mothers who didn’t have the genetic change” (Rockoff, 2013). This suggests that certain individuals are merely more sensitive to environmental influences than others. Knowing this information may help researchers work with and shape behavioral tendencies, although the extent to which such efforts may work may be limited. These studies suggest that intelligence is largely an inherited condition, and that many personality traits are also more inherited than shaped by environmental factors.
- Collins, N. (2012). Nature vs. Nurture: Outcome Depends on Where You Live. Science News.
Retrieved October 14, 2013 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9326819/Nature-vs-nurture-outcome-depends-on-where-you-live.html - KempJackson, S. (2011). Nature, Nurture, or Neither: Identical Twins Hold the Answer.
National Geographic. Retrieved October 14, 2013 from: http://technorati.com/women/article/nature-nurture-or-neither-identical-twins/ - Rockoff, J.D. (2013). Nature vs. Nurture: New Science Stirs Debate: How Behavior is Shaped-
Who’s an Orchid, Who’s A Dandelion. WSJ. Retrieved October 14, 2013 from: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323527004579079132234671374
