Social and personality development has always been of interest to me both as a manager of private Montessori schools and also having worked with hundreds of children over my career thus far. When prospective teachers would meet me for an interview, I thoughtfully considered whether they would fit into that particular school community. Likewise, when a families visited for a tour, I would meet their child and thoughtfully consider which classroom s/he should be placed based on age, developmental level, and of course personality. For the purpose of my blog, I thought sharing a portion of my afternoon reading on the debate of whether nature (biolical factors) or nurture (environmental factors) determines personality.
Truly, there is no clear black & white answer to this question. However, there's some new research that may shed light on this debate.... "Researchers in many different countries have studies thousands of sets of identical twins who were separated at birth and raised separately. If heredity played little or no part in determining personality, you would expect to find few similarities between the separated twins. But twins raised apart have much in common. For almost every behavioral trait, a significant part of the similarity between them turns out to be associated with genetic factors. One set of twins separated for 39 years and raised 45 miles apart were found to drive the same model and color car. They chain-smoked the same brand of cigarette, owned dogs with the same name, and regularly vacationed within three blocks of each other in a beach community 1,500 miles away. Researchers have found that genetics account for about 50 percent of the personality similarities between twins and more than 30 percent of the similarities in occupational and leisure interests. Interestingly.... the personalities of identical twins raised in different households are more similar to each other than to the personalities of siblings with whom the twins were raised."
For my readers who are expecting, it should be a delightful exercise to consider which parts of your baby's personality will come from you, and which will come from your partener. Happy parenting everyone!
