Kamil Wladzinski

English IV

Ms. Okeefe

Final Draft

What are the factors that affect Behavior and Character

Have you ever wondered on why people are who they are? I know that I have.

So I researched it. Throughout my research I have found many valuable sources and

information to help me in understanding my question. I asked this question because I

believe that it is something that I, personally, like to know. I never understood why some

people are different than other people. I knew it had a couple different reasons but I

once I started researching, I was surprised with my discoverings.

Before I started my search, I thought of multiple reasons why people are different

than each others. My thoughts before starting my research were that people had

different character than others because of how you were raised. I believe this is true

especially if you are born with mental disabilities or raised in dangerous or unhealthy life

styles. As of my knowledge and experience, I believed that people would grow their

personality based on how they are exposed to the world. For example, depending on

where you live, you can be a hillbilly in the south, a redneck, city person, suburban, or

rich kid living in the hills. I believed that a lot of who you were was based on where you

grew up. I personally grew up in the city except that where my neighborhood was, I was
exposed to a lot of hispanic culture and heritage. Based on my ethnicity (Polish), I was

exposed to a lot of polish culture as well. I grew up to learn to speak and understand

polish along with understanding the culture and accepting it as my own. I was exposed

to a lot of polish people and polish lifestyles when I was growing up. This was at home,

when I was out of the house, I would be exposed to hispanic culture around my block or

american lifestyles in school and day care. Because I went to english public school and

was never put in polish classes or polish school, I speak english better than polish. But

what does this have to do with my behavior/character? This is an example proving how

where you grew up affects the type of person you are. Also when growing up, I was

exposed to having a single mother and that affected my character and behavior as well.

I was more prone to acceptance and sympathy to single mothers along with a goal in

life to be apart of my families life no matter what. I feel like being surrounded by two

siblings and a single mother and see the sacrifices she made, made me a more

stronger more determined kid. I also seen the failures that both my siblings made within

their life and how it affected it. I was determined and learned from their mistakes. Being

around failure, being raised by a single mother and growing up Polish-American shaped

who I became today.

I can tell you all day how the way I grew up shaped my life but what proof do I

have behind what I say. Doing some thorough research, I asked my boss, a

psychologist herself about the question and if she can provide some advice as to

following my research. Dr. Anna Wegierek recommended a magazine and website

called Psychology.com. I reference this source multiple times in my search for an

answer as to what affects your behavior/character. Winston Churchill once said we

shape our buildings, and afterwards, our buildings shape us. With this in mind, the

University of Virginia and the University of Helsinki with a group of collaborators focused

on trying to answer some questions. According to psychology.com, the University of

Virginia conducted 5 studies to see if there is a connection with geography and your

personality. In their studies, people were separated by being introverts and extroverts.

In the study introvert preferred mountainous areas rather than more public areas such

as beaches. Oishis group built the case that introverts are happier in mountainous

settings than they are on beaches. In laboratory studies, more introverted student

participants reported that they preferred scenes of mountains to scenes of beaches.

psychology.com

If the place you grew up affects who you are, do the people you grow up also

affect the person you grow up to be. According to sciencedaily.com, Researchers

found that genes affected a person's sense of purpose, how well they get on with

people and their ability to continue learning and developing.. With this knowledge in

mind, it shows that as you grow up, your desire to succeed, the drive in your, your

commitment is all determined by who they are. University of Edinburgh did a study to

see if twins, both identical and biological end up having similar traits. They did this to

question if genes determine who you are. the research team found that identical twins

-- whose DNA is [presumed to be] exactly the same -- were twice as likely to share traits

compared with non-identical twins.. This helps prove how in a lot of cases, people grow

up to be who they are based on their genes as well. The study proved to show that the
identical twins ended up having more similarities in traits than biological twins. Those

with practically the same DNA ended up practically the same while people who have

differences in their DNA ended up having differences in their traits.

In some cases, people end up developing personality disorders

throughout their lifetime. According to apa.org, parents verbal abuse on a young child

can cause long term effects on the childs personality. In a study of 794 mothers and

children, mothers that said that they verbally abused their kids when they were young

were three times as likely as other children to have borderline, narcissistic,

obsessive-compulsive or paranoid personality disorders in adulthood.. This shows that

personality grows over time and a lot of who you become is how you are brought up and

your surroundings. If a person was verbally abused as kid by their mothers, they were

three times more likely to have some type of mental disability when they grow up.

According to Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study, people who

have borderline personality disorder, have had more childhood sexual trauma than

people without a personality disorders. People with borderline personality disorder, for

example, had especially high rates of childhood sexual trauma. (apa.org). This tells me

that as you grow up, if you were exposed to some type of sexual trauma as an

adolescent or minor, could affect you in the long run. Another reason showing what

happens in the beginning moments in your life, shape who you become later on in life.

While looking for further reason that can affect a person in the long run

psychologically, my boss recommended healthguidance.org. According to

heathguidance.org, some things that affect your character are age, birth order, life
events, appearance and name. When you start to age, you end up changing

psychologically. According to healthguidance.org, it states your emotional stability and

sense of responsibility tend to be at an all-time high when we are in our 40s-60s, while

our eagerness for novel experiences tends to drop as we get older.. This goes to show

how as we age, your brain ends up changing as well with your body. When you get

older, you start to have different desires. Instead of being active and outgoing, you

become responsible and boring in a way. You end up becoming an adult and the way

you think changes with the responsibilities you are given and the life you end up

upholding. When you are born, especially with siblings, your personality can differ

based on how old you are within your siblings. First born children are more likely to be

bossy and responsible, while last-born children are more likely to be impulsive (Sinicki

healthguidance.org). This shows that being older also affects who you are. Especially if

you are the oldest of other siblings. Eventually, you become more bossy due to the fact

that you end up feeling like you have a responsibility towards your younger siblings. Life

events in some people can end up changing a person. According to Sinicki, life events

such as a death in the family can eventually shape who you become/ hurt who you are

at that time. I agree with this personally. My mother passed away not too long ago and I

feel like because of it, I have become a stronger, more independent person. But I also

feel like because of such an intimate death in family, my emotions arent as they used to

be. What I mean by this is that now I can relate to other family losses and I seem to be

more aware of my health while thinking of others health as well. This just goes to show
how life events in peoples lives can eventually change who you are as a person either

positively or negatively.

One more thing I found was something to do with the relationship status and who

your friends are. I found this source interesting because it actually relate to me a lot. I

have multiple friends of multiple different personalities. I feel like my best friend is a big

influence on who I am now and what I have become. I say this because when im with

her, I feel like I can actually express myself in a way that isnt held back or controlled. In

the article I found that We BECOME the collective personality of those to whom we are

closest. Their spiritual levels, mental levels, and interests become ours, and we in turn

help shape who they become. We influence each other.(Shelby thoughcatalog.com). I

think that this partially true. When I am with my friends at school, I end up being

encourage to do better and strive for success but when I am with my friends from

another school, I feel like a rebel or free from all the leashes that the school, grades,

parents, rules, government have on me. In the article it said what kind of person you

want to be should be who you hang around. I feel like I agree with this. I want to live my

life and have fun but there is that part of me that is responsible and productive, wanting

strivness. I think that is represented in my groups of different friends. This just goes to

show how who you surround yourself by, just might be the type of person youre

becoming or already are.

Throughout my research, I have learned a lot. I think that some things that I've

learned is that your personality is affected by many reasons and one small thing could

change the type of people you are or become forever. Upon asking a psychologist why
there are so many reasons, I was told that the question was such a broad question, you

can practically anything in your life can influence the type of person you are. She also

said that psychology isnt a perfect science. There apparently isnt ever an exact answer

to something involving the human brain. The brain is so complex and changes so much

throughout the lifetime that one answer for one person isnt the same for others.

Another thing I've learned from this research is how tricky the human mind is.

There is practically nothing out in the world that wont harm you in some way. If it isnt

physical, then it could be mental. Sometimes both can get affected. When learning that

even the type of landscapes you live around can affect the type of person you are, I was

shocked and starting thinking about myself. Am I an extrovert because I live in the city.

If so, why am I shy at some times? I do not have an answer for that, I believe that if

there is a cause, then there must be an effect and no matter what it is, it will affect you

in some way.
 Source Cited page

Ellard, Colin. "Does Where You Live Make You Who You Are?" Psychology Today.

Sussex Publishers, 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 23 May 2017.

<https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-wandering/201508/does-where-you-live-

make-you-who-you-are>.

"Personality." American Psychological Association. American Psychological

Association, n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

University of Edinburgh. "Character Traits Determined Genetically? Genes May Hold

the Key to a Life of Success,." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 May 2016. Web. 18 May

2017.

SINICKI, ADAM. "The Things That Shape Who You Are Surprising Factors That

Influence Personality." HealthGuidance.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.

Shelby, Deborah. "Your Friends Are A Statement Of Who You Are Choosing To

Become."Thought Catalog. Thought Catalog, 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 03 June 2017.

<http://thoughtcatalog.com/deborah-shelby/2014/10/your-friends-are-a-statement-of-wh
o-you-are-choosing-to-become/>.