Growth and Development of a Person - Essay Example

From the article ‘Nature vs. Nurture’, it becomes evident that both nature and nurture contribute to and affect the growth and development of a person. It is hard to control nature but the way a person is nurtured can be controlled by the parents, environment and general society surrounding the individual (Powell, 2014). Nature is determined by the hereditary genetic factors which are passed down the family lineage and it determines the physical characteristics of a child. This explains why children have personality traits that are similar to that of their parents (Powell, 2014). The environment in which one is nurtured also contributes to the personality traits of a person. This includes parents, friends and people who interact closely with the person.  The genetic aspects are passed from the parents to the offspring naturally and one can inherit the traits of one parent or both.

My personality traits are similar to those of my parents. I am stubborn, opinionated, and extremely competitive just like my mother. Sometimes I can’t help the way I relate and respond to certain situations. I always find myself giving more opinions than my friends and I hate failure, these characters are similar to my mum. I am also compassionate and caring like my dad. I resemble my dad because I have blonde hair and blue eyes just like him. My friends influence my behaviour as they influence what I dress, where I hang out and the people I associate with. My college life is greatly influenced by friends since we do things together and in the same way.

Nature has influenced me the most since I have inherited my traits and character from my mother and my looks from my dad. I am particularly stubborn and strongly opinionated, and I acquired this character from my mother.

From the video, Heredity factors and the environment both influence aspects of development. They both work hand in hand in the movie as they interact continuously and influence the physical and psychological development of people. The way an individual is nurtured and the nature in which he is in both influence the psychological development of humans (Harrison, 2006). The development stages which people undergo also influence psychological development. Behaviour at a given stage gets determined by the set of characteristics that surround it. Behaviour at each stage is different in terms of experience and exposure, and these are the various stages that influence psychological development in people. All children go through the same distinct stages in the same order.

Environmental factors do not influence the order of the stages, but it affects the speed of progress of an individual in a particular stage. The environmental factors determine how long an individual takes in a stage. There are also the stages which I call sensitive or critical periods and stages (Harrison, 2006). These are the stages in which specific events must occur for normal development. When an individual fails to undergo normal development in certain stages then he or she must be abnormal. Psychological development increases with age and experience. The more old a person is the more developed he is psychologically. This is because an older person has passed through various experiences and growth stages hence more developed. Read More