The Role of the Family in Personality Development

The nature versus nurture debate has been one of the oldest, recurrent issues in psychology. Nature represents genetics that individuals inherited from birth parents, creating predetermined courses of development. Nature also encompasses biological processes (e.g., brain activities, hormones) that are believed to be largely controlled by genetics. Nurture, on the other hand, represents everything outside one’s body, including both physical environments (e.g., family, neighborhood, school, and culture) and interpersonal relationships (e.g., family, peers). Developmental psychologists and family scientists have been taking a great interest in the role of nurture, particularly family, for every aspect of human development, including personality development.