The nature versus nurture debate has existed for a long period now with each side offering their views regarding which among them significantly influence human development. Nurture in human development is concerned with whether people’s feelings, thoughts and behaviors arise due to environmental influences while the nature side is concerned with whether they emerge due to genetic influences. Views that emerge from this debate have established the understanding of why people behave in certain ways and how people can influence human behaviour.
This paper examines the views from both the nature side and the nurture side and argues that nature interacts with nurture to influence behaviour together.
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It is vital to differentiate the nurture sphere from the nature sphere to see how each influences behaviour. Based on the nurture side of the debate, the environment that a person interacts with plays a significant role in the way the person feels, thinks and behaves. For example, I like taking a cup of tea after dinner even though I was not born with this habit. But, the environment in which I was raised influenced my behavior. As a child, I used to visit my grandfather often and after dinner, my grandmother used to prepare tea for all of us. As I grew up I developed the habit and today, I still take tea after dinner. Thus, I developed this habit through observation. Similarly, studies demonstrate that children are not born aggressive, but learn to be aggressive by observing other children behave violently during play. Regarding the nature side, genetics contributes significantly in the way people feel, think and behave. For example, one of my uncles is addicted to alcohol and all his children, except one, are also addicted to alcohol. Research indicates that addiction to alcohol can persist in families and is influenced by specific genes (Good Therapy, 2015) . These explanations demonstrate how nature and nurture influence behaviour differently.
While nurture and nature domains influence behaviour differently, it is essential to acknowledge that they both interact with each repeatedly to influence behaviour. For example, when infants learn to walk and gain the ability to explore their environment on their own their friendship with their parents changes. Parents need to supervise the kids carefully because they can place themselves in dangerous situations. Their growth is influenced by genes, which offers them with an improved ability to explore the environment. The environmental influence gives them an opportunity to learn about their surroundings, which enhances their intellectual development. Thus, while genetic influences are vital, the development of infants is not based entirely on genes as the environment they interact with also contributes to their growth. The same occurs with the development of mental disorders. For instance, identical twins share genes but if one of them becomes schizophrenic, the chance of the other developing the condition is less when they are raised in different environments (Good Therapy, 2015) . In turn, this demonstrates that the environments in which the twins are raised also contribute. The development of colon cancer also demonstrates the interaction between nature and nurture because while some patients have the colon cancer gene, they can develop the disease only when triggered by bacteria in the gut (Davies, 2001) . Thus, nature and nurture influences combine to shape human development.
In conclusion, there are numerous claims that both the nurture and the nature sides present to support their effect on human behaviour. However, it is important to note that the outcome of human behaviour is due to a combination of both nurture and nature. Genetics do not act along to influence human behaviour; rather, they combine with environmental influences to shape behaviour.
References
Davies, K. (2001, April 17). Nature vs. Nurture Revisited . Retrieved February 24, 2018, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/nature-versus-nurture-revisited.html
Good Therapy. (2015, August 12). Nature vs. Nurture Debate . Retrieved February 24, 2018, from https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/nature-versus-nurture
