In the world of psychology, the debate between nature and nurture is quite a popular one. It even makes for a great essay topic. If you wish to write a nature vs nurture essay, you must familiarize with the topic first.
Let’s begin with a few questions that you might have asked yourself. “Am I who I am because I was born this way?” “Am I more of a product of my upbringing?” “Are my basic characteristics determined by that of my parents?”
All these questions fall into the category of nature versus nurture debate. Essentially, the debate is about the effect genes have on human personalities.
What is the debate all about?
Before you write nature vs nurture essay, you should know what the debate is actually about. Here, the term nature refers to heredity and nurture refers to environment and the role these two plays in developing a human psyche.
On one hand, there is a belief that genetics are the main influencers for human behavioural mechanism. On the other hand, it is considered that a person’s behaviour is mainly based on what he/she is taught from young age. There are several psychological terms linked with the debate- personality, intelligence, perception, etc.
As you can understand yourself, this debate makes for a really interesting essay topic. You can research on the debate and even pick a side to write on. There are several compelling arguments for each case, you can easily write a convincing nature vs nurture essay.
Examples explaining nature vs nurture
Some elementary questions on nature vs nurture have been answered by science through the field of genetics. However, there are still questions without a clear answer. For instance, something like the blood group of a person is completely determined genetically. The environment has no effect on it.
At the same time, features like height and skin colour are determined both genetically and environmentally. For example, if a person isn’t fed well enough during his/her growth years, he/she may not achieve his/her potential height. You can cite such examples in your nature vs nurture essay. It would make your essay more interesting.
There are several things proven by science, but there is always an exception to everything. A child with tendencies for crime can actually grow up to be a law-abiding citizen if they are raised properly.
At the same time, there have been researches proving common behaviour among identical twins even if they are raised apart. The scientific results of genetics do hold true and show authenticity. With matching DNA, identical twins have several attributes in common. Still, it is completely possible for the twins to show contrasting behaviour. How a kid is brought up has a major influence on what he/she grows up to be.
Coming back to criminal tendencies, it has been seen that most criminals have parents with criminal tendencies or criminal records. However, people with such tendencies can turn out to be responsible individuals if they have the right environment growing up. These tendencies may be subdued but never completely removed.
As you can see, there are numerous examples you can use in your nature vs nurture essay. Most of these examples clearly depict the contrast between the two beliefs. Use the right example at the right time to engage your reader.
Nature side of the debate
This side of the debate mainly backs up the ideal of personality being natural. A lot of psychologists believe that personality is built through an evolutionary process. During this process, humans inherit certain behavioural patterns from their genes. Thus, genetics are the only thing controlling how an individual behaves.
Another belief among naturalists is that the human personality, behavioural process and traits mostly remain unchanged throughout a life. All of it is inherited. With age, humans only focus on specific traits, while concealing others. The overall personality remains majorly intact.
If you find all of this convincing, you can write in favour of nature in your nature vs nurture essay. You will be able to write better if you yourself believe in this theory.
Nurture side of the debate
On the opposite side, it is believed that nurture is the source of human personality, not inheritance. As per nurture enthusiasts, human personality is developed after the person is born through different sources. Influenced by these sources, the individual’s personality takes shape through the course of his/her life.
Parental and prenatal impact is considered to be to the most significant and influential sources of nurturing an individual. However, peer influence, socio-economic and medial conditions also have a huge role to play.
Both nature and nurture
An interesting take on the debate is that both nature and nurture play a role in determining a person’s personality. They don’t necessarily have to affect an individual in proportional manner. Some people’s personality is more influenced by their nurture while others are maybe more influenced by their nature.
If you don’t wish to pick a side in your nature vs nurture essay, you can always write about collective influences of both. Human behaviour and personality are too complex to be influenced by a single factor alone. There are many things that come into play while determining characteristics of an individual.
As of now, there is no definitive answer to this debate. There are several strong evidences in favour of both the theories. This makes it hard to consider on theory to be outright superior to other.
Tips on writing the essay
Nevertheless, writing an essay on the topic would be really enjoyable. Here are a few tips to get started with:
- Make sure your essay is well researched and informational
- The content of the essay should be easily understandable
- You should be clear and specific with the main idea of your essay. Try not to deflect much from the main idea and be consistent throughout the content
- Use an interesting title that is relevant to the essay
For any help with nature vs nurture essay, you can even look for online academic help services.