Nature vs Nurture

One of the fundamental questions of psychology is what is the impact of nature (genetics) and nurture (treatment). Some psychologists argue that nurturing a child doesn’t matter at all. Instead, it is simply the genetics of the child that will determine its future. Though this may seem extreme, they have a good reason for believing this. One of the primary reasons for this belief is twin studies. Psychologists have studied identical twins (people who share the same genetics) separated at birth and studied their personality traits, cognitive abilities, and any psychological disorders they develop. These studies showed that despite never meeting their biological family, the twins were significantly more similar to each other in all three categories than they were to their adopted family. These studies consistently show this outcome, so it leads us to wonder if nurturing even matters.

On the other side, some psychologists believe that nurturing has a significant impact on children. Though they acknowledge that genetics play a large role in the development of the child, they argue that parenting style and attachment can cause significant differences. One study that supports this was done by studying the personality of baby monkeys. In this study, there were two distinct personalities of the moms and the babies. One group was social and curious and enjoyed exploring. The other was anxious, clingy, and fearful. Fearful mothers would have fearful babies, and social mothers would have social babies. To study the importance of nurturing, psychologists would take fearful babies and have a social mom adopt them. After a couple of weeks, the fearful babies were more willing to explore and didn’t show significant signs of anxiety when their mothers left. However, when the babies were put into a stressful situation, they reverted to their anxious behavior. This study made psychologists think that nurture plays a role in personality, however, in times of trial, people (and monkeys) will revert to their biological response. This study also supports the idea of attachment and development. Babies with a secure attachment (have a person who they can consistently rely on) are more likely to be social, willing to share, and curious about the world. Babies with an insecure attachment (due to insensitive or unresponsive caretakers) are likely to be anxious, ambivalent, and fearful of rejection. This attachment plays a critical role in future relationships, and can only be adjusted in the first year of life, showing the importance of parenting on long-term well being.