{"id":24357,"date":"2021-01-22T15:52:09","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T19:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=24357"},"modified":"2023-02-10T19:43:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T23:43:35","slug":"personality-nature-vs-nurture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/","title":{"rendered":"Personality: Nature vs Nurture on Temperament"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How is personality determined? Is personality nature vs. nurture or something more complicated?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For personality, nature vs. nurture can help explain some of where our temperament comes from. There are some studies that show biological roots to personality, but people are also able to adapt to their environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading for more about personality, nature vs. nurture, and how temperament is determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Personality: Nature vs Nurture<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Other studies of personality also support the premise that introversion and extroversion are biologically based. But <strong>the temperament you were born doesn\u2019t necessarily dictate what you do in every situation. Nurture and environment also play a role in shaping personality.<\/strong> Nature vs. nurture isn&#8217;t as straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to one theory, people with certain inherited traits tend to seek out experiences that reinforce them. Children who are low reactive may seek out exciting, even dangerous experiences, building up a tolerance for risk over time. Chuck Yeager could become an astronaut because of his years of courting danger as a test pilot. Conversely, high-reactive children who are internally focused may become professors, scientists, writers, and artists, whose work involves more mental stimulation than external activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet environment still can affect temperament. Low-reactive, extroverted kids raised in nurturing environments can grow up to become high achievers like Oprah or Richard Branson. But some psychologists believe a low-reactive child raised by negligent parents or raised in a bad neighborhood could channel a bold temperament into bullying or delinquency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>High-reactive kids are also influenced by their environment. Science writer David Dobbs explained the effect of environment on children with what he called the \u201corchid hypothesis.\u201d <strong>Many children are like dandelions, able to flourish anywhere. However, others such as high-reactives are like the more sensitive orchids\u2014they wilt easily, but with proper care become something extraordinary.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such children are strongly affected by their experiences, whether positive or negative. For instance, they\u2019re more likely to react to marital tension or abuse with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/low-mood-and-anxiety\/\">anxiety and depression<\/a>. However, in a nurturing environment, they develop more social skills and have fewer emotional problems than low-reactive children. They\u2019re conscientious and caring, disturbed by injustice and cruelty. While they don\u2019t seek attention, they\u2019re often highly successful at things that interest them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How is personality determined? Is personality nature vs. nurture or something more complicated? For personality, nature vs. nurture can help explain some of where our temperament comes from. There are some studies that show biological roots to personality, but people are also able to adapt to their environments. Keep reading for more about personality, nature vs. nurture, and how temperament is determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-24357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-society","tag-quiet-the-power-of-introverts","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Personality: Nature vs Nurture on Temperament - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How is personality determined? Research on personality nature vs. nurture determinants show that both biology and environment have an impact.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Personality: Nature vs Nurture on Temperament\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How is personality determined? Research on personality nature vs. nurture determinants show that both biology and environment have an impact.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-22T19:52:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-10T23:43:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-biology-of-happiness.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"765\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"508\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"Personality: Nature vs Nurture on Temperament\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-22T19:52:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-10T23:43:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/\"},\"wordCount\":377,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-biology-of-happiness.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Quiet: The Power of Introverts\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/\",\"name\":\"Personality: Nature vs Nurture on Temperament - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personality-nature-vs-nurture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-biology-of-happiness.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-22T19:52:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-10T23:43:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"How is personality determined? 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