Personality development is a lifetime process and some theories suggest that our
personality is molded by both nature and nurture. Nature verses nurture has been a name given to
a long –standing controversial topic. This term is related to influences of our genetics have on
the development of a humans personality versus the environment humans are associated with as
they grow and develop. Nature is distinguished as instincts or biological makeup that we are born
with and nurture is the social and cultural influences that help us develop into a functioning
human being. What’s important to understand is how the term correlates with our development
of personality. Personality is about unique differences between people’s actions, thoughts, or
behaviors. What causes these differences is the ultimate question. Our personality development
is not independently developed by just genetics or just nature or nurture, but a combination of the
two. Feist (2017) states, “Internal states and processes, from biological and physiological
systems to personality traits, come from the input within our environment.”
During WWII the structure of DNA and the connections made between genetics
and environment. Some of the first research on this was only published in 1960. Genetic research
during this time has consistently shown transmittable influence in many traditional areas of
psychological research such as mental illness, personality, cognitive disabilities and abilities, and
drug use and abuse. While those are more of the common arenas for genetic understanding areas
such as self-esteem, interests, attitudes, and school achievement have shown strong genetic
influence as well. This research has led to a growing acceptance of roles for both genes and the
environment in the differences in human personality by both scholars and the public. For a
clearer picture of just how much nature versus nurture can contribute towards a personality trait,
as Plomin and Asbury (2008) states, the emphasis on genetics and environment should be
emphasized equally. The genetic influence of schizophrenia in identical twins for example, has
been recognized as having a contributing factor of only 45%, which mean that environmental
factors can explain the other half of the variance. As research shows and enabled to continue by
the grace of God, how do we determine if nature versus nurture is actually the contributing
factors to how we develop as human beings or is the biblical view completely different from
what is being discovered. As God has created this world for us to grow and develop on, He has
given us the ability and the means to explore this great gift we call life. What’s important to
know is that God did not creature us to be evil, therefore we are created with the nature of Gods
will. Gods will is for us to not sin against him and through a long line of disobedience we have
strayed so far in this world that sin, pain, and destruction is the type of world we live in today.
Although that is the case, the biblical connection to nature versus nurture and personality is that
God did not create us with the intention of being one way and never being able to change it. With
