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Asked by anon-296946 on 28 Jun 2021.
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John J Shaw answered on 28 Jun 2021:
A nice question and the boring answer- a little of both.
There are certain biological factors that would make us predisposed to acting in a certain way or more likely to make that decision, but there is also the nurture element that can actively hinder that or go the other way. There is also a critical period where afterwards no amount of nurture can help the situtation (the case study of Genie for instance).
Last time I saw the figures I think it was they suggest 60% Nature, 30% Nurture, and 10% how the two interact. I think around there seems believable.
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Gabriela Morris answered on 29 Jun 2021:
It’s a combination of both. Nature allows for the potential to react, act, feel or think in a certain way, whereas a person’s environment – how they were raised, how they’re taught to think, reason and respond to stimulus – determines the easiest routes for them to take when faced with a situation.
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Lisa Newson answered on 29 Jun 2021:
Yes I believe in this as a debate.
Nature “loads the gun” nurture “pulls the barrel”.
Our genes and biology set us up, give the foundations, which may be activated at a a later point.
The environment in which we live, influences our behaviour, which interacts with our biology and who we are. -
Naomi Heffer answered on 29 Jun 2021:
All behaviours are definitely the product of some combination of nature and nurture, the interesting question is how much each contributes to specific behaviours! When we work that out, we can help people to live better lives by identifying how they might be able to change their environment to alter their wellbeing and behaviour, and if doing so is likely to make a difference.
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Jennifer Deane answered on 29 Jun 2021:
Hi – For me I think it is a little of both. I think we are born with certain characteristics but how they play out depends on how we interact with the world.
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Jessica Rea answered on 29 Jun 2021: last edited 29 Jun 2021 2:26 pm
The distinction is not as clear cut as you might imagine. Our environments have been shown to influence our biology – even as we develop in the womb! There is a field dedicated to this research called ‘epigenetics’ if you would like to learn more about it.
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Sophie Bettles answered on 30 Jun 2021:
This is always a big point of discussion – especially when people commit crimes.
Some of my service users find it distressing that their siblings have grown up in the same environment/exposed to the same traumas but lead law-abiding and successful lives, whereas they have gone down the route of crime. So there is definitely an element of individual (“nature”) characteristics giving people different ways of understanding the world; weighing up decisions; and tolerance/resilience to trauma.
However, pretty much every client I’ve worked with in secure care services have had difficult upbringings (repeated incidents of neglect and/or abuse) so I think “nurture” plays a massive role in how they learn what is safe or not; and what choices they make as they learn and grow.
I think there is a combination of both and we try to understand how these interact and what the individual can control and therefore change. This process of understanding a particular person or behaviour is called a “formulation” and the inclusion of all different factors is called the “biopsychosocial model”. -
Samantha Harrison answered on 1 Jul 2021:
I believe both sides and I think both sides intertwine to the point where it can be very hard to determine. The field of epigenetics looks at this – how the environment/behaviours around us shape our genes, which then in turn shapes how we interact with the environment/behaviours around us… To me, it is an ongoing circle where both halves play a big role.
Which do you believe?
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