What Are Factors Affecting Personality?

The two factors that affect personality is environment and heredity.

Nature vs Nurture

Scientists have argued for many years what is the factor that shape us, is it our genes? Or is it our environment? The simple answer is both. Imagine Johnny and Blake who’s parents are both mathematical genuinenesses who unfortunately died in a car accident. John and Blake are twins but were separated at birth Johnny was taken by a doctor and Blake was stolen and raised by hardened criminals accustomed to violence in a daily basis. Johny how ever was raised in a formal way with a loving, peaceful and caring community and supportive parents as his environment. Among the two who is most likely to do a crime as an adult?

Blake of course having a violent environment growing up. But there is a chance that both men will be good at mathematics since there parents are brilliant at it, its called aptitude. I’ll explain about it later.

The heredity factor

When we are conceived we are given 24 chromosomes carried by the sperm (male) and it pairs up with 24 from ovum (female) making a new individual with 48 chromosomes each one different, containing different information about us this explains why we have our mother’s nose or our father’s hair. The chromosomes are the vessels that contain our parents genetic make up passed on to us. But of course there is what we call genetic gap where a trait is not passed directly to the children but to the next generation the grandchildren or even the next. That explains why some of us look like our grandparents and not our parents.

Aptitude and Ability

Aptitude is a pattern of traits needed for learning a task. Ability is to execute what you have learned. Aptitude is inherited ability is acquired. Let’s say you are good in basketball. Can you say your children will be good at it? No, aptitude will be passed on(like Blake and Johny being good in Mathematics) not your skills as a basketball player although aptitude can be inherited to learn the task they can not inherit the ability to do a slam dunk it would take some time and practice.

Environment Factor

A child’s behavior is also learned from environment the things and the people around the child. At birth, the new born has no understanding of the world around him. He has to learn to learn to walk, eat, talk and act like others which is socially accepted. The people he would be interacting with will play a big role in molding his personality since it will determine the GOOD and the BAD in him. For example is stealing bad or good? It will depend on the society he lives at weather or not it is socially acceptable.

By 5 years old we already have an idea of who we are I’m nice, I’m cute, I’m naughty, people like me when I smile etc… we already have an idea of who we are. During this crucial stage the primary group which are our family, playmates and neighbors they are the ones we have face to face contact with the second groups are the ones later on in life like School, classmates and new peers.

What Are Factors Affecting Personality?