Introduction

You know that different people have different personalities. Each individual is different. But why? What is it that causes these differences? What is the origin of these differences? This one of the most fundamental questions that developmental psychologists face. This is also the base question of behavioral genetics.

Behavioral genetics combines psychology and genetics to study genetic influences on behavior. These behavioral geneticists study which psychological characteristics, such as temperament a nd emotional stability, are passed on from parent to child. They try to determine what percentage is related to differences in genes and what percentage is related to environmental differences.

Psychologists say that there are two main factors which affect the development formation of a person's personality. They are - genetic factors (some call this factor "Nature") and environmental factors (also referred as "Nurture"). Psychologists have, in the past, had disputes over the topic of "Nature VS Nurture". "Nature VS Nurture" indicates that biological and environmental factors compete against each other to develop a person's personality. Also, one of these two factors may be more dominant than the other. Scientific discoveries have shown to us now, that both of these two factors are needed for a person's personality to develop normally. Psychologists are now interested in finding out to what extent each of these competing factors affect personality development.

Produced for Thinkquest Internet Challenge 2000.

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