One of the most important questions concerning human personality involves the question of how much personality is influenced by inheritance. The nativism-empiricism controversy, also called nature versus nurture, manifests throughout all personality theories. A nativist would conclude that an attribute such as intelligence is genetically determined and the maximum level of intelligence of an individual is determined at birth. However, a empiricist believes that major attributes are determined by people’s experiences rather than genetics, therefore maximum intelligence would be determined by circumstances and the environment. The influence of traits is also a question surrounding personality theories. Some traits are assumed to be learned such as food preferences, while other traits such as one’s emotional makeup are determined by genetics. Trait theorists believe traits remain constant throughout an individual’s life and therefore states an individual’s behavior will remain consistent across time and similar situations. Some theorists suggest personality can be viewed as a combination of the many roles an individual plays. These roles include the socioeconomic level of one’s family, family size, birth order, ethnic identification, religion and educational level. Cultural variables include courtship, marriage, childrearing, politics, religion, education, and justice. All personality theorists accept that sociocultural factors influence personality but disagree on how much it influences personality. Theories emphasizing existential-humanistic principles ask such questions as: What does it mean to be aware of the fact that ultimately you must die? Or What are the sources of meaning in human existence? These theories question the importance of free will. Humans are thrown beyond control into certain conditions of life but how they value, interpret, and respond to these conditions is a matter of personal choice. Many theorists question the importance of the past,...