Formative Years
Nature vs Nurture
Chapter 1.8
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Ayushi and Ayaan are both playing with their toys when Ayushi decides she wants Ayaan’s toy. She will not take no for an answer and tries to snatch the toy. Ayaan, on the other hand, is calm and quietly gives it to her. She takes it and runs away to enjoy it with her friends. Ayaan doesn’t mind.
Let’s Reflect
In this scenario, one might wonder why the reactions of the two kids to the toys were different. Is it because of the way they were raised? Or was it some genetic factor that made Ayaan more patient than Ayushi?
The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest debates about whether human behaviour and personality are inherited (i.e. genetic) or acquired (i.e. learned)
So how much of a child’s personality is defined by nature and how much is defined by his or her environment?
What is Nature?
Nature refers to the genes and all the factors we have inherited from our parents. These influence our behaviour which could be the personality traits we are born with and also our physical characteristics such as the colour of our eyes.
What is Nurture?
Nurture refers to the characteristics we develop from our interaction with environmental variables and our experiences. These shape our personality and can include our early childhood experiences, upbringing, social interactions and surrounding culture.
It could be that Ayaan’s genetic dispositions made him to be more of a patient person compared to Ayushi. A particular genetic trait may contribute to the difference in their social behaviour. However, this is not the whole story. This genetic trait is activated depending on the environment of the child. This means that while Ayaan might have had a predisposition to be patient, this trait was only activated due to the way his parents brought him up.
It is important, however, to recognize that “nature” and “nurture” are not parallel tracks. Instead, the tracks are woven together and influence each other’s pathways in ways that may vary greatly depending on the individual child.
How the Nature of Nurture affects a child’s personality
Recent research points to how early experiences influence to what extent the genes are activated. A great example of this is the ‘perfect pitch’ which is the ability to detect the pitch of a musical tone without any reference. It has been found that this ability is hereditary and found in a particular gene. However, having this gene is not enough. Interestingly, it only manifests itself if the child is given proper musical training during their early childhood. This shows that traits need a “trigger” from the environment to get activated.
Can genes be altered?
Genes were previously seen as something that was “set in stone”. However, recent research shows that the environment of the child in the early years can alter the structure of the genes of these genes. This means that the brain is able to adapt itself according to the experiences the child has.
The kind of adaptations that take place in the brain have a powerful impact on the personality the child will have throughout their life. Some of these adaptations are positive, such as learning a healthy approach to deal with conflicts and other adaptations are negative such as development of an anger response to a stressful situation.
For e.g. A child may have an embedded skill to sketch genetically. But in case of a lack of encouraging environment he might not realise his talent until later years of his life.
The fact that genes can be altered in response to the environment and its influences shows how important it is to provide a supportive and responsive experience to young children in their early years when brain development is the fastest.
Did you know that the experiences can not only affect the mental health of the child but the physical health as well?
Studies show that a stressful environment with an absence of strong supportive relationships in early childhood can lead to an increased risk of physical health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma and hypertension. While the genes may play a role in this, the level of stress in the environment decides whether these genes get turned “on” or “off”.
Now that we know early childhood experiences are extremely important for healthy holistic development of children, how do we know what kind of experiences can help children thrive?
All children are born with different genes and traits. But there are a few points that all parents can take into consideration to ensure their child grows up to be a happy adult.
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