An essay on Nature Vs Nurture

HomeEssaysAn essay on Nature Vs Nurture
gif-final
Order Now mail
Assignmenthelp4me

An essay to explain the concept of Nature vs nurture

We, humans, are the most versatile creatures on this planet. From exhibiting immense intelligence to capturing the highest peak of the mountain to even establishing a mark in another planet, we have left no stone unturned in bringing a change to this world. Moreover, we have been termed as the most creative beings also. This can be much attributed to our accomplishments in the field of art and literature. One thing more where we are known to possess extraordinary competence is emotions. We are said to be the most emotional beings on this earth. Now, the question is where does this behavioural asset come from? Do we inherit it from our fathers and forefathers or we adapt it from our environment. The debate of nature and nurture has been constant from ages. This essay explores the views of the supporters of both the ideologies and provides a sample essay on Nature Vs Nurture.

First of all, let us understand the meaning of two beliefs.The very simple difference between the two ideologies lies in the mode of adaptation of our particular traits. These include our behaviour, intelligence, nature, thought process, social outlook among many others. In reference to Nature Vs Nurture, Nature refers to the genetics and biological impacts that we have on our character. Whereas, Nurture relates to the impressions that our environment form on our behaviour and learnings.

History of nature vs nurture

The difference between the viewpoints of nature and nurture has been known to have existed since the time of hypocrites. However, the first known psychologist to make the use of nature vs nurture is Sir Francis Galton in 1869. In fact it was in around 400 B.C.E.that hypocrites stated that our, the human behaviour is a biological result. They say that it is due to humors, which is composed of four types of body fluids. These can be named as yellow bile, phlegm, black bile and blood.

In contradiction to this, many statements have been made, which credit the nurture as the instrumental factor for the timely developments in our behaviour during the course of our lives. Out of many Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke are two such philosophers who believe that the human mind is born blank like "tabula rasa". They said that we as humans have respective differences in our behaviour and characteristics due to the environment we are raised. The external factors play a crucial role in influencing us to become responsible individuals of the society.

Further, in the 20th century, John Watson, also supported the latter view and said that it is evidently due to the events in our early childhood. According to him, our brain gets trained in the manner as we get taught by our parents and peers. The effect of the environment is invariably strong as compared to the genes.

(Help et al., 2020)

Examples of nature and nurture

The genetic features of a human being gets transferred to the other, which can be in the form of eye colour, mole, hair colour or even height or structure of the body. On the other hand, social behaviour, nature, We tend to transcend these characteristics from our parents or siblings. Some other popular examples of nature include the following:

Examples of nature and nurture
  • high / low blood pressure

    The health problems often get travelled through our genes to our children. The most common of these is BP problems and obesity. Further, thyroid is yet another health problem that we sometimes catch from our parents. Though, the opponents of nature view state that it is because of the eating habits that our blood pressure fluctuates to higher or lower levels. Further, it is even sometimes our inability to control our taste buds that lead to health issues in our lives.

  • Talent

    Talent or professional qualities is yet another aspect that we as humans usually inherit from our parents. The talents of crafting, scripting, cooking are many times said to be the inherited talents. Though, there are people who think the opposite and believe that it is with proper education and learning, we get to hone ourselves in the particular field of interest. Further, we sometimes, even tend to develop a similar taste for occupation as chosen by our parents. For this also, the opponents say that it is largely because of the family environment we end up growing in.

    2020

How does nature affect our mental health

The genes of our body are known to travel from our parents to us and from us to our children. Though, we tend to transcend the good qualities from our parents but there are some problems also which sometimes get transferred through genes. In addition to common problems like diabetes, high BP, asthma, cancer, which have higher chances to get transmitted to our next generations. There are some mental problems also, which have been known to pass onto the children. Few of these problems can be schizophrenia, bipolar, and major depression. Out of these bipolar as a condition has higher chances to get developed in your children, if you have a family history of the same.

As discussed, genetic factors do play a significant role in passing on the mental problems to the next generation. But, these cannot be entirely held responsible. There are cases in which among two twins, if one person has developed schizophrenia, then the other has only 50% chances of developing the same. There are other environmental factors as well which affect the instigation of the problem in our body. There are times when a certain problem is inactive in our body, it is only because of some specific conditions that leads to the activeness of that disease.

How does nature affect our physical health?

The wellness of our physique is guided by many factors, one of which is genes or nature. The biological passing of factors like overthinking, highly possessive or having too much caring attitude often develops unwanted health problems. It is because of the genes we get from our parents that we always think about others. However, the present world revolves around some mean motive people, who do not care about human values. Showing the word of sympathy to such people, is a mere waste of effort and energy. But, all because of your positive attitude, you wish to build relations with them, which ultimately land you in trouble, these situations can result in creating tense situations in your life, which ultimately affect your mental and physical health. It can give you unwanted problems like hypertension, cervical, fluctuating Blood Pressure, panic or anxiety attacks. All these problems when they reach a peak have the tendency to give you heart ailments, brain disorders, paralysis, among many others.

2020

How does nurture affect our mental health

Nurture- the environment that we live in, has a long lasting impact on our senses. These are believed to mark an even stronger impression on our mental well being. More importantly, the situations tend to turn worse, when you spend your childhood in aggressive surroundings. You must have seen that some of your friends are always sad or agitated. This is much because of the conditions in and around their living environments. The constant negativity around them builds a lot of pressure on their senses and they showcase a similar behaviour to the people out. Their frustration pushes them to the extent of showing aggressiveness on you or your friends. This affects their mental calmness and takes away the peace from their lives.

Further, you would even have noticed some people are highly watchful and introvert. They always take a lot of time to make friends. This is because of the trust issues they have developed over time. Such people always have some sad history in their lives, which stops them from multiplying their network. They develop a negative image of the world in their mind and restrict themselves from any new friendships. Such people even develop the problem of anxiety and depression with the passage of time, which affects their physique in yet another adverse manner.

How does nurture affect our Physical health

Nurture accounts for the environmental conditions in which we grow older. These conditions can sometimes be highly hygienic and motivating, while sometimes it can be demotivating as well as destructive. For instance, if a child is born and brought up in a clean environment then, he is always sure to develop healthy eating habits. With this surety comes the ensurement of a happy health for the child’s lifetime. On the other hand, if a person is raised in toxic conditions, then it not only affects his mental health but also his physical well being.

It is a well known fact that children who work in crackers factories experience a setback in their physical health. It is due to the extreme unhygienic conditions with the surroundings of various chemical compositions that push them in the drain of physical and mental problems. The exploitation is such that they have been termed as the children robot. So, it can be said that nurture or the working and living environment that we live in, poses a huge impact on our physique and psyche.

(Report & Kothari, 2020)

How do nature and nurture interact?

Nature and nurture undoubtedly have a very strong relationship with each other. Nurture is the factor which creates breeding space for nature to grow. If you are creative and have the calibre to write, but you are not given the right education, then your biological quality of being creative will die with time. It is the proper support of the surrounding conditions and the education you get that helps your nature to grow effectively. Therefore, along with the inborn qualities, you also need extrinsic factors to allow those qualities to take the shape of your interest and then develop into a full fledged profession. Further, with the help of proper education, you can add value to your talent.

The same even works to subdue the negative natural instincts of a person. If in case you are short tempered and have a family history of high Blood Pressure, and your environment around is very calm and soothing. Then, with time you learn to be a composed and calm human being.

This states that the absence or the presence of the respective nurture conditions plays an imperative role in shaping the human mind in the direction of his nature. For many hereditary health conditions, good food and a happy environment blocks the breeding ground of the problem. Rather it adds to the longevity of the person’s health and gives him more years to live.

Similar is the case with the creative interests of the person. In the absence of a suitable environment, the person tends to lose his interest in the same. Here the nurture takes away his natural talent from him and he is forced to adapt the profession of the hour.

The nature vs nurture Debate

As discussed above, nature and nurture are two crucial factors which contribute to the development of a certain personality type or for catching a particular disease. However there has been a huge debate going on between nature Vs nurture. There are people who hold nature responsible for a number of things, whereas there are some who say nurture is accountable for the same change of habit.

The supporter of each view has their own proofs, which they credit in the form of a study or experiment. Beginning from the very life of hippies till date, there have been a number of scholars who have presented their studies on the nature vs nurture debate. The debate can be related to each and every part of our lives. From the health problems to mental disbalance to educational accomplishments, we can experience the role of nature or nurture in every phase.

The very basis of the Nature Vs Nurture debate is the modern and the orthodox approach, Most of the modern people think that it is the nurture changes that result in bringing health and career prospects whereas the orthodox people generally say that you have acquired certain qualities from your parents or other family members.

Nature vs nurture essay


Students in colleges many times get an essay on nature vs nurture. This section is an effort by Assignment help 4 me, to provide students with the sample essay to write for their college assignments. Further, the descriptive elements that we mention in our essay, help students to write an explicit essay on the topic. However, if you being a student are not able to write your college assignment essay, then you can contact us unhesitatingly and we will be obliged to help you in the best possible way. We are known for our finesse and error proof services.

Sample essay - Shedding the view of Nature vs Nurture with an enlightening angle of their interdependence


We humans are the most cultured animals on this earth. We have learnt these cultures and mannerisms over a period of time. Adam and Eve did not know how to eat with a fork and knife. It is just with time, need and environmental changes that has helped us reach the present era of constant technological development. However, not every characteristic that we possess is due to environmental changes, many are due to the biological factors that we hail from our parents. This is where the debate of nature Vs Nurture comes into existence. This essay talks about the two very different views, their relationship and how these views impact the ideology of the people towards life.

Approches to Psychologist

First the very difference between nature vs nurture is that nature they say is the qualities we as humans inherit from our biological parents. Whereas, nurture is the environmental impacts that we adapt from around us. The exact effects of nature can be seen in the form of eye color, body shape, height, skin colour and many others. However nurture effects can be eminently witnessed through human behaviour, societal outlook or even the varied aspects of health. Though, there is no precise aspect that is said to surely pass on through nature or nurture. Some people say health problems are due to nature, while some say it is the environmental factors which lay a strong impact on health. Thus, there has been no alignment in the views of the people, especially the ones who debate upon nature Vs nurture.

Talking about nature, there are certainly few aspects which largely depend entirely on the biological factors that a child inherits from his parents. These include the eye color, height, skin color or even some particular physical features. There are also times when we inherit intelligence, personality types and many other genetic characteristics from our parents. These are basically the biological features that we receive from our parents. These small impressions help us form an independent identity in the society. These actually form the basis to the structure of our personality. There is no question that nature plays a crucial role in defining our personality. It is actually the foundation on which the other factors then mark their influence and help in shaping your actual personality. Some additional features like courage, determination, strong headed, stubbornness, daring or even cowardness, fear and meek behaviour is sometimes an attribute of the genetic transmission of qualities.

Moving further towards nurture. It would be no wrong to say that nurture is one step ahead of nature. It is the right nurture that helps us persist our values and sustain them throughout our lifetime. In fact nurture walks hand in hand with nature, right from the beginning of a child’s conception. It is said that the type of music, the mother listens to during her pregnancy, is the one which her child develops an interest for, even after his birth. Further, the environmental conditions, social relationships and the cultures followed in the surroundings, makes the real personality of the person. These actually define the religious and cultural values of a person. As it is rightly said, no one is born Christian or Hindu, it is after our birth that we wear the costume of our religious customs. Thus, the impact of nurture is evident throughout our lifetime. Moreover, the nurture values keep on changing as we keep moving forward in our life. In fact, there has been a study which found that nature and nurture work together in the developmental process. This is quite different from the debate views, but is surely an enlightening factor which gives a new angle to this discussion.

("How do nature and nurture work together", 2020)

Furthermore, though nurture keeps on impacting our external values and continuously directs us towards our goal, we still remain highly influenced by our internal values- the nature. For instance if you are a good human being but due to some external forces, you got diverted from your nature of goodness, and started participating in unethical acts to earn better money. Then, you can not carry forward this profession for a longer term. It is after sometime that your very nature, the natural instincts of your personality will call you back. You will somehow retrieve those qualities again and get back to your path of honesty and kindness. This is where the importance of the values you have learnt in your mother's womb actually reflect. This proves that the effect of nurture is temporary, whereas nature manifests your true self. In fact, during the course of our life, we tend to change our route of career quite often, which is again a reflection of our external environment. Moreover, with the travel route we cover during our lifetime, it introduces us to continuous transformations. These changes are highly advantageous for our growth and actually guide us to the future achievements. Manytimes, these turn out to be the learning lessons which keep leading us through our life journey. As studied by Daniel John Zizzo, there is a relationship of interdependence between nature and nurture. He has clearly mentioned the details of his study in the paper, “Empirical evidence on interdependent preferences: nature or nurture?”

(Zizzo, 2003)

To conclude it can be said that nature and nurture are two defining factors of our personality. It is the combined result of these two aspects that help a person to actually define his true personality. Though there are different views of people on the factors that come from nature or nurture. The debate is never ending. However, this interdependent view of nature vs nurture is also important to consider. It is actually the route to end the debate and bring closure to the varying statements. Therefore, rather than fighting on the view, we should try to understand the respective importance and place of nature and nurture in our course of life, beginning from childhood to maturity.

At the end, it can be said that nature and nurture are definitely two important aspects of human life. It is these with the help of these factors that a human being moves in a constructive direction of his life. These factors shape the nature, career and the ideologies, the person follows in his lifetime.

Further readings

References

  • Report, S., & Kothari. (2020). Sivakasi houses world's largest concentration of child labour in its industrial units. Retrieved 28 November 2020, from https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19830115-sivakasi-houses-worlds-largest-concentration-of-child-labour-in-its-industrial-units-770353-2013-07-30

  • Zizzo, D. (2003). Empirical evidence on interdependent preferences: Nature or nurture? Cambridge Journal of Economics, 27(6), 867-880. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23602095

  • How do nature and nurture work together. (2020). Retrieved 30 November 2020, from https://medium.com/@alexis.carbajal/how-do-nature-and-nurture-work-together-d7f506de8c8a

Order Now