Isabella 1

Isabella Chavez

Mrs.Ramirez

English 4

1 Dec 2023

Our Environment Is Powerful

“ Blood is thicker than water.” A common saying that many people agree with.

Heredity is not a precursor to how our personalities develop. The environment is a big factor that

comes to play in our upbringing. “ Although we do inherit our genes, we do not inherit

personality in any fixed sense. The effect of our genes on our behavior is entirely dependent on

the context of our life as it unfolds day to day. Based on our genes no one can say what kind of

human being you will turn out to be or what you will do in life.” (opentextbc.ca). Nature vs.

nurture is a big argument on what has more influence on our personalities. Genetics is a big play

on our development but not necessarily on our personality development. Our psychological

development is affected by our genetics however this does not mean our personality is affected

by our genes. Environment is the outside factors that come into play. For example who and what

we surround ourselves with. Your environment has a more powerful influence on your

personality development than your heredity.

Nature vs nurture has a big effect on personality development. According to

focus.psychiatry.org, Environmentalists believe that the Environment plays a huge part in

shaping our personalities. I agree with them because our environment is what and who we

surround ourselves with. Have you ever heard the saying “ You are who you surround yourself

with”. It is because of this that I agree with the Environmentalists who believe our Environment

plays a huge part in our personality development. According to focus.pyschiatry.org “ Behavioral

 Isabella 2

genetics has provided evidence of genetic influences on temperament and personality but,

perhaps more importantly it has provided strong evidence for the significance of environmental

influences.” I believe that genetics could make some influence on personality development but

not be the main influence. As focus.pyschiatry.org stated “ Studies of behavioral genetics have

not provided satisfactory results in personality psychology.” I believe that the studies don’t lie. If

we conduct more studies we can further prove that genetics does not affect personality

development. As it’s been proven a child's environment is the backbone to their personality.

Blood doesn’t affect or determine their personality development.

Heritability of genes is not always 50% (Andrew Anthony). According to

Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov, there have been twin studies of personality that are consistent with genes

attributing to our other half. I disagree with this statement because if I share the same genetic

makeup as my siblings it doesn’t necessarily mean I have the same personality as them. As

Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov states “ Individual differences are heritable” like our looks. We can inherit

our parents hair color or eye color but not our personality. I agree with this statement because I

personally inherited my dads nose however my personality is mirrored from my environment.

According to Ncbi.Nlm.Nih.Gov “ Recent developments in statistical methodology allow for

more fine-grained estimates of the impact of genetic and environmental factors on individual

differences. If we can do more studies we can figure out what affects our personality more. As it

concludes, we need ro run more studies to prove our environment is the main affecting factor on

our personality.

Our psychology is made up of our genes but our personality is made up of our

environment. According to opentextbc.ca “ The genetic differences that exist at birth may be

either amplified or diminished overtime through environmental factors” If the environment can
 Isabella 3

amplify or diminish genetic differences. I agree that it can affect our personality. According to

opentextbc.ca “ The brains and bodies of identical twins are not exactly the same, and they

become even more different as they grow up. As a result, even genetically identical twins have

distinct personalities, resulting in large part from environmental effects.” Even identical twins

will have different personalities due to the different environments they surround themselves with.

As opentextbc.ca states “ You can see that these factors- the largely unknown things that make

us different from other people- often have the largest influence on personality” The outside

factors largely affect our personality, and sometimes even our trauma.

Environmentalists believe that the Environment is the biggest influence on our

personality. As fastcompany.com states “ Other studies support the notion that personality is

shaped more by the environment than previously thought.” As the studies continue we will get

more evidence on what affects the personality more. According to fastcompany.com “ As these

new studies all suggest, our environments can have a profound impact on our personality”

Personality is a very important factor to who we are as people and how we present ourselves.

Fastcompany.com states that they designed a study to look at traits of interest: how patient

someone is and how tolerant of uncertainty. The way someone acts isn’t genetic. You may learn

how to act from your parents but that doesn't necessarily mean it’s genetic. At the end of the day

our environment is the main factor that affects our personality if you really look at things.

To conclude, The things we surround ourselves with makes a bigger impact on our

personality development than heredity. If we don’t start recognizing that our environment plays a

bigger role on our children than we will have a world full of children who can;’t understand why

they are the way they are. Nature vs Nurture does come into play when we talk about our

personality development. Genes aren’t really a big part when it comes to our personality
 Isabella 4

development however they do play a small role. Our Psychological makeup can be tested to see

what our personalities stem from. Our environment is the things we see, hear, and surround

ourselves with. Things we don’t think count but they truly do when it comes to our development

including our personality development. Your environment and what you choose to surround

yourself with has a more powerful influence on your personality development then you believe.

It affects your personality more than your heredity because your genes can’t really determine

what your personality is like. As stated by Jiddu Krishnamurti “ We are second hand people. We

have lived on what we have been told, either guided by our inclinations, our tendencies, or

compelled to accept by circumstances and environment. We are the result of all kinds of

influences, and there is nothing new in us. Nothing that we have discovered for ourselves;

nothing original, pristine, clear.”

 Isabella 5

Work cited

1. AMIR—AEON, DORSA. “Our Environment Shapes Our Personality Much More than
We Think.” Our Environment Shapes Our Personality Much More Than We Think –
Quark Consulting International, Fast company, 9 Jan. 1970,
quark.international/environment-shapes-our-personality/.
2. Anthony, Andrew. “So Is It Nature Not Nurture after All?” The Guardian, Guardian
News and Media, 29 Sept. 2018,
www.theguardian.com/science/2018/sep/29/so-is-it-nature-not-nurture-after-all-genetics-r
obert-plomin-polygenic-testing.
3. Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa, and Markus Jokela. “Nature and Nurture in Personality.”
FOCUS, psychiatry online, 1 Apr. 2010,
focus.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/foc.8.2.foc180.
4. Krueger, Robert F, et al. “The Heritability of Personality Is Not Always 50%:
Gene-Environment Interactions and Correlations between Personality and Parenting.”
Journal of Personality, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Dec. 2009,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2593100/.
5. Stangor, Charles, and Jennifer Walinga. “12.3 Is Personality More Nature or More
Nurture? Behavioural and Molecular Genetics.” Introduction to Psychology 1st Canadian
Edition, BCcampus, 17 Oct. 2014,
opentextbc.ca/introductiontopsychology/chapter/11-3-is-personality-more-nature-or-more
-nurture-behavioral-and-molecular-genetics/#:~:text=Although%20we%20do%20inherit
%20our,you%20will%20do%20in%20life.