Is a child’s personality and moral development based on their genetics or their environment? A psychologist named Donald Hebb once responded to that question by asking “which contributes more to an area of a rectangle, its length or its width?” (Puka, 2005) My view is similar to Donald’s, in that each child is inherently unique and their personality and moral development is based on a combination of environmental and genetic factors. It takes a length and a width to create a rectangle, as it takes an interaction between environment and genetics to develop a person’s personality and moral outlook.
Personality can be defined as a set of qualities that make a person or animal distinct from another, including behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental attributes.
Moral development is the development of frames of reference to make moral judgments in relation to others. “At no other period in life are people as likely to be as concerned about morals and values as they are during adolescence” (Zanden, Crandell, and Crandell, 2007).
Studies have found that the outcome of the interactions cannot be attributed to one or the other. Although genetics do play a large role, different disorders have different levels of strengths in the links that they have to heredity. For example, according to Rutter (2002), 70% of genetic factors account for autism and schizophrenia. Similarly, divorce, religious beliefs, and parenting styles are noted to have genetic effects. However, the impact of the environment on an individual can be tremendous as well. For children who are genetically susceptible, adverse environments can have a significant and detrimental effect on them. The same type of environment, whether good or bad, will affect people differently. Researchers have concluded that due to this, environmental influences often serve to make children in the same family, with the same environment, different, rather than the same. Some children are more vulnerable to the effects of discord than other children (Zanden, Crandell, and Crandell, 2007).
Genetics play a strong role in the development of a child’s personality, but the affect of the environment has a large influence as well. Maladaptive behaviors in siblings with genetic predispositions to psychiatric illnesses are usually found in several children within the same family, such as antisocial behavior. Yet depression and anxiety usually affect only one child and have differences in psychopathology. The Equal Environments Assumption states that “both antisocial behavior and depression are correlated with genetic susceptibility, but, in addition, these same risk factors are significantly associated with differences in psychopathology within monozygotic pairs who, of course, are genetically the same” (Rutter, 2002). The author continues on to describe how failure by researchers to realize the environmental effects has incorrectly inflated the heritability estimate. The effects of psychological features are dependent on the combination of genetics working together with the effects of the environment.
Parents who have psychiatric illnesses may parent their children differently than a parent who is in perfect mental health. The children, who are already genetically predisposed to a psychiatric illness, may grow up in a family environment with more conflict and discord, due to the unstable condition of their parents (Rutter, 2002). Since they are genetically vulnerable, they are likely to develop a psychiatric illness because of the combination of genetic and environmental factors. Individuals react differently in experiences of stress and adversity (Zanden, Crandell, and Crandell, 2007).
Psychosocial development is the development of learning skills such as self-concept, developing social relationships, and emotional expression. Research has found that a high quality of psychosocial development in the first 2 to 3years of life will have a stronger effect than the same experience later on, which has been found to bring about a lasting change in brain structure (Rutter, 2002).
Genetics and the mother’s behavior during pregnancy have a strong influence on the physical development of a human. For example, a child might be born underweight because the mother smoked cigarettes, born with fetal alcohol syndrome because the mother consumed alcohol, or may be born with congenital blindness because of a genetic defect. Poor nutrition, during gestation and after birth have been linked to serious health problems later on in life, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes (Rutter, 2002).
Moral development develops throughout early and middle childhood, and is refined during adolescence, and even into adulthood. Some children may be naturally inclined to share toys, while others are more inclined to have concern only for their own happiness. Children are not born knowing the difference between right and wrong and by having parents who guide their children’s behavior with limits and behavior modifications, children will learn about the needs of others. As the child gets older, he or she will also learn about moral development from teachers, coaches, and peers. It is beneficial to the development of the child when the rules of the home are reinforced by people in the community (Zanden, Crandell, and Crandell, 2007).
According to my views, Piaget’s theory most closely represents how I feel. In his research, he has focused on the cognitive development and social interactions that shape moral development. Piaget has studied the role of socialization in developing moral ideologies and emotions. In his research, he found that guilt, shame and pride are important in reinforcing prevailing norms of right and wrong, also in developing ego-ideals and an aversive conscience-system to avoid discipline from social authorities (Puka, 2005). I believe that a child might be genetically inclined to be a fast learner, but that no one is born with knowledge already in their brain. I believe humans learn about moral development by doing and by making mistakes. After they take an action, the reaction of their environment will have an influence on the child’s future decision to take similar or different actions. However, genetically, a person may be predisposed to being more empathetic and caring, or being more self centered, and the depending on their environment, that trait of the personality may be strengthened or weakened.
Moral Development in Children. Retrieved October 23, 2008. Helping Children Build a Conscience. http://www.angelfire.com/folk/marital/moraldevelopment.htm
Puka, William (2005). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved October 23, 2008, Moral Development: http://www.iep.utm.edu/m/moraldev.htm#H4
Rutter, Michael. (2002). Nature, Nurture, and Development: From Evangelism through Science toward Policy and Practice. Child Development, 73, 1-21.
Zanden, J. W., Crandell, T. L., & Crandell, C. H. (2007). Human development (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
