What makes a personality?

[Jambalaya]

Is it nature or nurture?

Watching two starkly different personality chains in my family, in which members of each "chain" are freakishly similar down three generations, I'm inclined to place a bet on nature.

What do you think? Is personality cultivated or inborn? You do hear about cases of twins who were separated at birth being reunited later in life and finding out that they have crazy similarities.

I think it's an interesting question.

 

[missy]

I think it's both.
There are aspects we are born with that are pretty much ingrained into who we are but then there are parts that change as we grow and experience life and are able to think for ourselves.

I think we can shift negative thinking/patterns into a more positive energy.

But I also think there are personality traits that are pretty much fixed and we are who we are in that regard.

It is an interesting field of study and an interesting question @Jambalaya

Uncovering the complex genetics of human character - Molecular Psychiatry

Human personality is 30–60% heritable according to twin and adoption studies. Hundreds of genetic variants are expected to influence its complex development, but few have been identified. We used a machine learning method for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to uncover complex...

www.nature.com

Theory-Driven Intervention for Changing Personality: Expectancy Value Theory, Behavioral Activation, and Conscientiousness

Considerable evidence suggests that personality traits may be changeable, raising the possibility that personality traits most linked to health problems can be modified with intervention. A growing body of research suggests that problematic personality ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

So is it nature not nurture after all?

In a controversial new book Robert Plomin argues that genes largely shape our personalities and that the science is now too compelling to ignore

www.theguardian.com

 

[Jambalaya]

Thanks for those links, Missy!

I think it's an interesting question, too, especially as I've observed personalities within my own family. I knew all four of my grandparents well, and through them I have a sense of the personalities a generation or two back from them as well. So I have a view across up to 5 generations, and some of the similarities are quite amazing!

A particular trait I'm interested in is resilience. There are such differences between people in terms of how resilient they are, and I do wonder if this is mostly an inborn trait, or if people can become more resilient with practice and sheer force of will, or what. I knew a widower who seemed incredibly resilient, but in fact he had just buried his grief. So I'm not even sure how true resilience would be defined.

 

[missy]

Thanks for those links, Missy!

I think it's an interesting question, too, especially as I've observed personalities within my own family. I knew all four of my grandparents well, and through them I have a sense of the personalities a generation or two back from them as well. So I have a view across up to 5 generations, and some of the similarities are quite amazing!

A particular trait I'm interested in is resilience. There are such differences between people in terms of how resilient they are, and I do wonder if this is mostly an inborn trait, or if people can become more resilient with practice and sheer force of will, or what. I knew a widower who seemed incredibly resilient, but in fact he had just buried his grief. So I'm not even sure how true resilience would be defined.

You might find this thread interesting @Jambalaya

Are you resilient?

Part 1 of my question is: Do you consider yourself resilient? Part 2 is: Do you consider yourself happy? Whatever happy means to you. I think these 2 personal attributes are linked. Are they connected for you too?

www.pricescope.com

 

[Jambalaya]

Great! Thanks, Missy! I considered starting a thread about resilience, but conveniently, there already is one! I will read it.

 

[Lookinagain]

I think it's mostly nature, with some impact by nurture. I have no scientific back up for my opinion, only my own observations.