Is it the result of nature – what we are born with – or nature – what we experience? We search for the answer.
According to Hippocrates, the «father of modern medicine», black bile caused depression and irritability, while blood made you brave and hopeful. These ideas spread all over the world, and in the 18th century, people with mental illnesses were sometimes treated with leeches in order to restore the balance of their humor.
«The consensus these days is that our personalities result from a complicated interaction between nature and nurture.»
4. If it is hard to find the roots of personality in nature, then can we find them in nurture? The nurture theory says that we are all born as «blank slates».
Our personality develops as the result of our parents, our peers, our environment, and so on. As the famous psychologist BF Skinner once said, «give me a child and I will shape him into anything».
5. Nurture theory has even been enforced by law. In Ancient China, if a young man committed a serious crime and was sentenced to death, then his parents might be executed, too – because they were responsible for the character of their son. Even in modern Britain, if a child plays truant from school, her parents can be prosecuted.
6. However, there is more to nurture than parents, there is environment, too. One shocking example of how easily environment can affect personality comes from the infamous 1971 Stanford Prison experiments. These experiments took 24 normal, healthy men and asked them to play the role of prisoners or guards in a pretend prison. The experiment had to be ended after just six days because the guards became very cruel, locking one prisoner in a cupboard and forcing the others to bang on the cupboard door.
In a new environment, it seems that «normal» people can completely change their behaviour.
7. Some studies of twins, however, challenge the importance of nurture. According to nurture theory, identical twins should only have similar personalities if they grow up together, but different personalities if they grow up apart, due to different upbringing and experiences. However, studies show the same striking similarities in personality, whether these twins are brought up separately or together.
Well, sort of. The consensus these days is that our personalities result from a complicated interaction between nature and nurture. Perhaps one day we will understand the exact recipe for personality but then again, we may never understand ourselves fully!
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