Internal and External Variables That Affect Personalities

Internal and External Variables That Affect Personalities

  • Submitted By: atc300zx
  • Date Submitted: 01/27/2009 7:24 AM
  • Category: Science
  • Words: 1657
  • Page: 7
  • Views: 2

A plethora of variables both internal and external combine to create individual personalities. Heritability cannot be solely discussed without taking into account environmental influences, and therefore both must be added to the psychological mixing pot when discussing what constructs our personality. One point of view is that genotypes control how people think, feel, and behave. Others believe it is environment alone that is responsible for moulding us into who we are. There is much unknown about this field of study, however by reviewing what twin and adoption studies have told us about heritability of human personality may be a significant stepping stone in a greater understanding of this complex topic. Even today, the sole factor of human personality remains unknown; modern research indicates that a combination of biological and environment factors construct us all.

Studying how genes and our surroundings may or may not form our personalities is probably the most obvious way to approach the argument of heredity versus the environment. Humans more often than not tend to polarize themselves and choose a specific side when a debate such as this is introduced. Despite this, it is probably not the best method of unravelling the basis for the main variables that construct human beings; who is to say that a single factor is the source of all our differences as humans? Therefore it is more logical to examine the distinctions between heredity and the environment factors, and to figure out in what ways the two intertwine to form the singular entities that are our personas.
It is then plausible to establish what aspects of personality are linked to heredity, and what aspects most likely exist due to environmental factors. It has been stated that heredity and the environment contribute 50% each to the makeup of an entire human being; however, much debate exists about specific percentages and the existence of higher percentages of one factor in different age groups...

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