Heredity determines personality

Argument supporting Heredity determines personality

Introduciton:

Personality is defined as the sum total of beliefs, behaviors, attitudes and

values that distinguishes an individual. Each of us has unique personalities
which distinguish us from the others. Even twins who look alike and are
reared in the same environment differ in personalities. A number of factors
determine a person’s personality. These include environment and genetics.
Our personality is the product of the interaction of these two factors. It is not
exclusively molded by the environment or genetics but a combination of
both.

Body:

Heredity is the main factor which determines a person’s personality. The

DNA makeup of a child have all those characters and personality traits that
his parents had. Its no doubt that person’s learn through learning and
enviornment which affects their perosnality but the point is, a person will
learn what he has percieved in his mind and that comes from heredity.
Hereditary, or the genetic transmission of characteristics from parents to
offspring, determines personality to a certain extent. Hereditary
characteristics manifest at birth such as hair and eye color, skin color and
body type. Hereditary also includes aptitude or the capacity to learn a skill or
inclination for a particular body of knowledge. It establishes the limits of
one’s personality traits that can be developed.
This aptitude creates the desire for a person to learn something. For
instance, the son of a sports hero like a boxer superstar is expected to
inherit the genes of his father. His capacity for growth in the boxing arena is
immense because he is born with the ability. Or, take the case of a daughter
of a writer. Obviously, with her genetic predisposition to write she will be
more inclined to study or learn writing compared to other endeavors such as
sports. Behavioral geneticists, Behavioral geneticists believe that the genes
do not act as the exact blueprints that determine every detail of our
personality and behavior; rather, they think that heredity or these genes
reveal through a person’s actual interactions with the environment. The
genetic make-up of a person brings out particular reactions to things and
people which in turn determine the person’s personality.
To further explain this, it is important to know how DNA works. The DNA of a
person is responsible for a certain kind of nervous system such as one that is
alarmed at new situations, one that wants new sensations and one that is
slow to react. In different situations, children react according to the one that
would be most suitable for their genotype or genetic endowment. The ability
to choose reactions though increases as a person grows older.
Conclusion:
The personality of an individual is mix of both inherited factors and learning
and enviornmental facotrs but heredity plays a bigger role in determining
those traits which affect our personality and our perception and how we
percieve things and learn them.
Argument against Heredity determines personality

Introduciton:

The main difference among individuals lies in their personality. One's

personality consists in his/her general profile or in the special combination of
psychological traits of character that refer to his/her unique nature. One's
unique combination of psychological features leads to the way in which that
specific person reacts and interacts with the others or the environment.
One's personality includes a set of mental characteristics which reflect the
way in which a person thinks, acts and feels.

Body:
Talking about the fact that heredity does have an impact on our personality
but researchers have found that it is not necessary for a person to be a xerox
copy if his parents.While not discounting that genetic tendencies may exist,
supporters of the nurture theory believe they ultimately don't matter - that
our behavioral aspects originate only from the environmental factors of our
upbringing. Studies on infant and child temperament have revealed the most
crucial evidence for nurture theories.
• American psychologist John Watson, best known for his controversial
experiments with a young orphan named Albert, demonstrated that
the acquisition of a phobia could be explained by classical conditioning.
A strong proponent of environmental learning, he said: Give me a
dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to
bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and
train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of
his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his
ancestors.
• Harvard psychologist B. F. Skinner's early experiments produced
pigeons that could dance, do figure eights, and play tennis. Today
known as the father of behavioral science, he eventually went on to
prove that human behavior could be conditioned in much the same
way as animals.
 • A study in New Scientist suggests that sense of humor is a learned
trait, influenced by family and cultural environment, and not
genetically determined.
• If environment didn't play a part in determining an individual's traits
and behaviors, then identical twins should, theoretically, be exactly the
same in all respects, even if reared apart. But a number of studies
show that they are never exactly alike, even though they are
remarkably similar in most respects.
So, was the way we behave engrained in us before we were born? Or has it
developed over time in response to our experiences? Researchers on all
sides of the nature vs nurture debate agree that the link between a gene and
a behavior is not the same as cause and effect. While a gene may increase
the likelihood that you'll behave in a particular way, it does not make people
do things. Which means that we still get to choose who we'll be when we
grow up.
Conclusion:
The conclusion is that surely heredity plays an important role in shaping up
our personality traits but it is more related towards the physical features.
The mental and physological features are shaped up by learning.we learn
through experience and that make us expert in that thing. So heredity does
not entirely determines personality.

Referances:
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/nature_nurture_2.htm
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Influence+of+Personality+Does+It+Affe
ct+the+Work+Performance%3F-a01073972358
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Our-Personality-Is-It-Genetically-Inherited-or-
Determined-by-The-Environmental-Factors-28413.shtml
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_heredity_determines_personality