Living in the new modern millennium, the personalities of human beings exist in various aspects that cannot be truly investigated in some specific intervals. To find out one’s true self, or inner personality characteristics, the life learning path is the key to the answer. The nature vs nurture debate has carried on for many years. Some individuals advocate that personality traits will never be permanently changeable. However, I am not in favor of the proposal.
Indeed, to the extent of biological development, genetic predisposition is the main factor in somewhat shaping one’s personality. Many groups of opposite characters, which can be permanent, are mostly rooted in human DNA. Taking extroversion and introversion as specific examples, these traits are shown as the natural self of human beings, which can truly influence how they interact with the modern world regardless of their upbringing. Moreover, twin studies have discovered many similar characteristics of mental development and self-worth. Twin, especially identical twins, a unique biological aspect of traits, has some unchanged features of personality, which is logically proved by the statistical data of the famous Minnesota Study of twins. The study found that identical twins shared about 50% of the same traits, whereas fraternal ones shared approximately 20%. This biological aspect of identity cannot be overlooked, as it highlights the complexity of human development.
However, the nurturing methods in families across the world, in particular, play crucial roles in molding a child’s personality. It is a truth universally acknowledged that the more caring atmosphere children can receive from parents, the more positive personalities they develop. Conversely, a child raised in a chaotic or abusive environment may struggle with trust and emotional regulation, impacting their personality traits in profound ways. Especially, such massive influences do cultural perspective create that the differences between Asian and Western citizens significantly shown in acceptable behaviors, beliefs, etc. For example, in the way of living on both sides of the world, Asian people have a tendency to be humble and less flamboyant about their achievements and academic background, while Westerners think otherwise and show their pride in having triumphed in all endeavors. This particular example illustrates that cultural backdrop profoundly shapes one’s identity, affecting everything from living direction to innate traits. Finally, education and peer relationships create the alteration in characters. Because a person who is exposed to the school environment and friend zone will experience diverse horizons of life and reality, through interactions with peers, one can discover more about true identity, learn more social skills, empathy, and even conflict resolution, all of which contribute to self-development.
To sum up, both nature and nurture are integral to the development of personality traits. Education and family environment, however, play a more crucial role in determining how these traits manifest. Just as Francis Galton put it, ‘Nature is all that a man brings with himself into the world; nurture is every influence from without that affects him after his birth.’ It is my belief, therefore, that necessary character development while keeping innate traits should be incentivized and supported.