Nature characterizes all behaviors that define an individual, while nurturing means to model into something. Factors that surround an individual shape them into the person they become. Behavior is as a result of inborn and acquired traits (Thornton & Boogert, 2019). Childhood is especially important in assessing the impact of the environment on the children and how it influences adulthood. The nervous and endocrine systems also function together to model behavior. Daily experiences in adulthood also nurture individuals differently depending on the type of experience. A once kind and easily trusting person may change into a paranoid and brutal person due to loss of a job, a loved one, or betrayal. There exists and intricate interaction of inherent and environmental factors in determining how individuals adopt and develop their characteristics and behavioral traits.
The Environment Nurturing Behavior
Children thrive outdoors, where they have the freedom to run, play, and indulge in other physical activities. The free space gives them freedom to develop their physical and mental abilities. Besides being faster learners, children who spend most of the time outdoors also have better motor skills. Children absorb all the light, textures, sound, smell, and emotions without picking out. The phenomenon explains why the environment is a significant part of nurturing them ( Jennings, 2019) . Parents, friends, and relatives are the biggest environmental factors that shape the child’s nature. A friendly, encouraging, yet demanding environment pushes one to be a better person while maintaining a healthy social life. On the contrary, an unfriendly, discouraging, but demanding environment will also push the individual to be better, but at the expense of the social welfare of others. While some behaviors may be eliminated, some last a lifetime. The impact of the environment is also the same during adulthood.
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The Nervous and Endocrine System
The body’s biological system also plays a significant role in shaping behavior. According to an article by the Open Books for Hong Kong (2016), the endocrine system releases chemicals, while the nervous system acts as a communication channel. The nervous system receives, decodes, and translates the information from body hormones into electrical signals. The hormones that the endocrine system releases are in line with the environment of the individual. For instance when a person is happy, they release endorphins. A continuous production of the feel-good hormone instills a sense of security, joy and hope for the future, which is a source of socially acceptable behavior (Thornton & Boogert, 2019). A happy person has better interpersonal relations and is likely to have a positive attitude in life. A stressed body also releases cortisol, the stress hormone that dulls the brain. The nervous system translates this as thoughts of hopelessness, which often pushes individuals into socially unacceptable behavior due to depression.
Interaction of Biology and Environment
Besides the immediate interactions, behavior is also due to inborn or genetic factors. Genes determine what dieses the individual is prone or resistant to (Kong et al., 2018). Genetic makeup also determines which hormones the endocrine system produces more. Some individuals are inclined to produce more endorphins than others do, thus are more sensitive to pain and pleasure. Some conditions such as being bipolar or excessively aggressive are also a function of genes. The individual’s behavior is understood better by tracing their genetic history.
Conclusion
Environmental and inborn factors nurture nature. Behavior is a combination of environmental, inborn, endocrine and nervous factors, thus understanding these factors makes it easier to trace back the origin of character. The above factors interact to nurture nature. A change in one of them alters human behavior, and could result in a swing from one extreme to another, such as being kind to being ruthless. Psychologists thus have to understand all the nurtures of character before they can decide on the cause of their client’s behavior.
References
Jennings, B. A. (2019). The nurturing of nature.
Kong, A., Thorleifsson, G., Frigge, M. L., Vilhjalmsson, B. J., Young, A. I., Thorgeirsson, T. E., & Gudbjartsson, D. F. (2018). The nature of nurture: Effects of parental genotypes. Science , 359 (6374), 424-428.
Open Textbooks for Hong Kong. (2016). The Body’s Chemicals Help Control Behavior: The Endocrine System. Retrieved on 15 th August from http://www.opentextbooks.org.hk/ditatopic/26421
Thornton, A., & Boogert, N. J. (2019). The nature and nurturing of animal minds. Genes and Behaviour: Beyond Nature Nurture., DJ Hosken, N. Wedell, and J. Hunt, eds.(Wiley) , 181-202.
