Nature vs. Nuture

When I think about my personality traits, I think about how different, yet similar they are to my parents. But did they instill these characteristics in me as I grew up, or was I simply born like this?


Growing up, I always found myself standing out amongst my family. My parents were truly at a loss at how different my sister and I were. She loved to talk to anyone and everyone, was incredibly assertive, and learned considerably fast for her age. On the other hand, I was shy, always tried to put others before myself, and couldn't quite grasp a lot of concepts quickly. In my family, my parents always tried to encourage us to be more outgoing and independent. They didn't want us to rely on other people and saw the importance in appearance and never falling behind. It was always better to lead than to follow. So I figured I was just born different. 


However, as I grew older I somehow grew out of a lot of these traits. With the encouragement of my family and supportive friends, I tried to do many activities and applied for leadership positions in high school. Surprisingly, I got them all. I didn't really understand it myself. One moment I was shy and unable to speak up for myself, and now I was considered outgoing, friendly, and incredibly honest. Was this the influence of my surroundings? Did it just take a couple years to finally grow into my true personality?


The answer to if we are the way we are is because of nature vs. nurture has no real answer, because it's a mixture of both. The personality traits we have cannot be changed as soon as we are born. All children have personalities before their surroundings change them. For example, when I was a baby all I wanted to do was eat and sleep. I enjoyed staying quiet and looking around a lot. My sister, on the other hand, was more active and wanted to move around but also cried more often. My parents didn't choose these personality traits for us as soon as we were born. However as we grow up, our surroundings do also influence what we do with these traits. We are taught what is considered acceptable, and what is not. 


We are born with unique personalities, but our surroundings impact what we do with these qualities and usually sway our judgments. Throughout my life, I have definitely seen a change in my personality due to my environment, but maybe others have not. 


So do you believe that you are who are you purely through yourself, or have your surroundings and the way you've been brought up created the backbone to your personality? Or do you also believe that it's simply a mix of both?



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