Chapter 3

Factors Affecting the Development of Personality

At the end of this chapter, the student shall be able to:

Differentiate nature from nurture

Identify the different factors affecting personality development

Personality

Nature (Heredity)

Nature

(Environmental)

Genetic Non-Genetic

Social

Physical

Family School Pecr CGroup Profession Community Cúlture

Climatic

Conditions

Physical

catures
Physical

Conditions

Nature VS. Nurture

The nature versus nurture debate is about the

relative influence of an individual's innate

atributes as opposed to the experiences from

the envircnment one is brought up in, in

determining individual differences in physical

and behavioral traits The philosophy that

humans acguire all or most of their behavioral

traits from murture' is known as tabula risa

Cblank slate),n recent years, both types of

factors have come to be recognized as playing

interacting roles in development

Comparison chart

Nature

In the "Nature vs Nurture" debate,

nature refers to an individuaľ's

Nurture

In the "nature vs nurture" debate, nurture refers to personal experiences (ie. eunpiricism or

behaviorism).
What is it?

innate qualities (aativism).

Nature is your genes. The physical and personality traits determined by your genes stay
the same irrespective of where you were born and raised.

Nurture refers to your childhood, or bow you were brought up. Someone could be born with
genes to give them a normal height, but be malnourished in childhood, resulting in stunted
growth and a failure to develop as expected.

Social and environmental actors

Biological and family factors

Factors Affecting Development of Personality

Genetic:

The resultant fertilised nucleus-cell is divided into two rod-like or thread-like structures, each
such a pair is callcd a

chromosome; the process of broaking down continues till the number of chromosomes grows to
23 pairs. These

chromosomes contain genes; and genes are the carriers of heredity.

Aristotle classified personality into three types:

1. Endomorph: Short, fat-built persons fall into this category

2. Ectomorph: Those having long and thin physique have been put in this category.

3. Mesomorph: To this third category belong the persons who are muscular and have a well-
proportioned body stucture

This classification is based on the apparent condition of the physique of a person. The condition
of physique is mainly

the result of heredity; it, generally, depends on genes.

To what they have reached, may be put in brief as under:

1. Geneticfactors determine both the physical attributes and the other personality characteristics.

2. The individhual's physical characteristics may affect his temperanient and behaviour.

3. A thin, non-muscular, and poorly co-ordinated person in motor developmen, is less likely to
achieve success in

physical tasks; or, in athletic games--the activities that the school boys value highly; with the
result that he cannot enjoy

popularity with his peers.

Non-Genetic:

The physique of a persor is dependent not only on the genetic factor, but there is one more
prenatal factor which affects

it. It may be called non-genetic or biological factor. When the embryo/foetus is in the womb of its
mother, it is hardly

affected by the extemal environment. It is fed through the umbilical chord, and its feeding
depends upon the food of the

mother. The malnutrition of the mother, would affect the physique of the unbom baby; and not
only its physique but the

temperamental or emotional build-up of the child is also affected by it. The mental condition of
the mother, though

cannot directly affect the emotional conditions of the child yet indirectly it docs. The ailment of
parent and the home

environment of the prospective mother aiso have their effect en the physique and emotional
build-up of the child to be

borm. This nature, through genetic ard non-genetic facters, afiects the physique which led
Aristotle to classify personality

into three categories:

1. Endomorph;

2. Ectomorph and

3. Mesomorph;

And also classify temperamentally or emotionally into:

) ActiveLively, talkative. playful, creative, good physical co-ordination with greater strength and
energy.

12

ii) Inactive-Sluggish, passive and pooly co-ordinated.

(ii) Timid-Physically smal in status, porly coordinated, relatively weak and apathetic, shy, fearful,
depending more

on others, such a child would remain more absent from his school than others.

Nurture:

All the factors that make the environment, and, affect the

development of an individual into a personality, may be

put under the heading Nurture; Nurture includes all that

MACROSYSTEM)

danes

¢eaduloes
cple mn

are there in the environment, both physical and social.

individual experiences of the young child that he has:

siblings; and

EXOSYSTEM

of lonks betu

At the first level is the "microsystem"-i is related to the

Khoo

MESOSYSTEM)

) In the home environment, living with his paents amd

i) In the school environment, living with his teachers

and peers.

At the second level is the "meso-system"-it refers to the

links amongst settings where the individual child directly participates in. For example, the home
and the school are such

settings, and the quality of the home environment may affect the child's performance in the
school, and his adjustment
with the peers.

The third level is the "Exosystem"-this refers to the settings where the child doesnot directly
participate in; the father's

or the mother's work environment is the example ii which there is no direct paticipation of the
child but their work

The fouth and the final level is the "macro-system"--it refers to the general pattern of ideology
and organisation of the

different social and the sub-cultural institutions. For example, the parents' stress at work is
affected by the number of

working hours, rates of emoluments, perks provided, holidays and leave entitlement, ccupationałl
status, or the view of

environment does affect the child-care that the parenis take.

the society regarding different occupations and others.

Sodal:

In comparison to an ectomorph, the mesomorph and also endomorph would be more social.
These latter types would be

more acceptable by other members of the group; and they, too, would be more selfconfident,
and would develop higher

As mentioned above, their physique is such that they wold be more inçlined towards games,
sports and other physical

activities; and would be able to perform there better. These abilities or skills of theirs would make
them more popular

self-esteem in due course.

With their peers and others, and, they would groW more and more social.

Aristotle Stanford et al., and also Glueck and Glueck have established arelationship between
physical structure or type

of the phy sique and the psychological characteristics, and accordingly they have enumerated the
types of personalities

However, their indings cannot be said to have definiteness.

Family:

In a family, the greatest impact exerted is that of the mother, the loving care or the affectionate
nurturance of the

mother goes a long, way in building up, especially, the emotional aspect of personality. Whether
the child grows into a

healthy. adolescent or into aggressive or neurotic or otherwise a problematic one, to a greet

extent, depends up on the

treatment that he as a child, has got at the hands ofhis mother.

Now, the important thingto see is howthe two different types ofhome environments, effect the
development of

two diferent categones of personaliies:

Hc ne Environment and Personallty

Children fown C'ontrolled Homes

. ictive only as per directions

CMldren frm Demecvranie Hemes

. Active (with inítiatiom

issued

2. Content

3. Shy

. Les of. oríginality

. Curiosiy less expressed

6. Subivsive

2. Competitive

3 Outgoing

4. Having yaalites of lesdership

S. More cunous, assenive

6.

Aswertive (ut alu apearing)

confoming

non-confoming

) abitisobedien

), uggreksive

i ohedient

tii quiet

School:
School provides a very imp ortant landn ark in the proces of the development of personality.
Suddenly, the child

is shi ted to an environm ent where he gets to see almost all faces to be new. The homely affecti
onate environmentis not

theree

Peer-Croup:

Generally, initi aion has to .be taken by the newcomer as he knows that now he will have to live
with the group

Hehas tó learn the cues and the respon ses which are likely to be rewarded by his peers

The process of integration pro gresses only dowy because the peer-group is not exactly consisted
of memb ers of the

same type, and the so cioeconomic stahus of their families a so happen to be different, and then
each happens to be having

its owncentre of gravity" or "centrd core becau se of their having had di ferent prenatal imp acts
besides having|

heterogeneous family backgrounds

14

Factors which affed following are the factors which affect peer acceptance:

1. Those who are bodily well-built and strong, are liked by their peers.

2. Those who are good looking, they become popular among the peer group.

3. Children better in physi cal acti vities or sports, win more friends.

4. Habits of tidy-living are also liked by the members of the group.

S. A happy child, friendly in nature, would naturally win more friends. The frequent laughter isa
sign of friendly

invitation.

6. Those who are good at studi es, may attract some for friendship with them while at the same
time some may become

envi ous of their class-achievements.

7. Rough and tumble, and having some aggressi veness also get favourable attention from many.

8. During the middle chil dhood, such children are &cfriended who are skilled and competent in
the work befīting their

age and sex.

Patterson et al, through a diagram have shown how the rejection by peers and failure in
academic work has its cause in

the nature of family care

Rcyoctn b

nemal poers

Poor parental

diciplinN

and monitonng|

Commnnors

to de ant

poet group

Chld

Dctirquen
cnduc

probkms

Acadcme

faulure

Profession: Personality is related to the whole life of a person cven though its development is
very rapid during

childhood. Personality, almost in its full bloom, is 1 subject related to adulthood. None the less,
we have included the

topic in reference to child development because the pe'sonality is mainly the resultant of factors
which are most effective

in childhood.

Community: Community is a very wide term which maybe made up of many social groups. Many
entities, like u family,

and agencies like a school may be operative therein to bring about a collective and cumul ative
impact on the individıals

belonging to the community.

With the result that an Israclite may be easily distinguished from a Japanesc, and an Indian from
an African because of

some unique characteristics of each of them. We can differentiate the one from the other
bucause of distinctive habits

15
and attitudes of each of them. Each community has its own traditions, history and culture
influencing its people since

centuries.

The geographic and climatic conditions of each of them may be very dissimilar; each factor
affecting the other, the

interactions between so many different factors result in the tevelopment of a unique and
complex character ofa

community. And, community in its turn serves as a factor in developing each of its individual
members into a personality

distinguishable from each other member of another community.

Culture: Culture represents the best product of human mind in the fields of arts and intellects. It
is the result of the

cultivated human mind which has been making constant efforts for achieving perfection.

The stage up to which a particular community has reached by dint of its efforts, can be known
through the works of that

community in the fields of architecture, fine arts, dance, music, disferent literary forms, styles of
living and values of

life, consumer itcms that make lite more comfortable, more secure; sanitary care (including ways
of disposing wastes),

means of recreation and so on.