22. 09. 2017 Research indicates that the characteristics we are born with have much more influence on our personality and development than any experiences we may have in our life. Which do you consider to be the major influence? v.1

Some pundits aver that inherited traits play more significant role in forming personality than experiences obtained in a life time. Below the prospect will be discussed in details and author’s opinion will be stated. On the one hand, characteristics with which people born have a considerable influence on personal development. Primarily, physical characteristics such as gender, race and body type have a crucial impact. A tall, pretty, European woman would apparently have distinctive personality than an unattractive and chubby one; even if they both were born and educated in the same culture. Moreover, some personal traits such as the ability to absorb and recall information or to keep being focused on a task for a long period of time seem to be inherited. A group of psychologists that studied intelligence decisively demonstrated the correlation between parents’ IQ and their offspring’s one. That means the more clever and smart mother and father are, the more intelligent their progeny will be. In other words, inheritance indeed has a grave effect on personal growth. On the other hand, experiences that are undergone by individuals must not be neglected. In fact, circumstances in which a child was brought up are pivotal for forming personality. Perhaps, the best illustration may be the sociological research that was conducted among couples of identical twins. The siblings in each couple were adopted by different families and although the siblings in each couple have the same genes, the kids that were fostered by wealthy, well-educated upper-class citizens were more successful, confident and smart than those who were taken by poor, ill-educated parents. Additionally, perception of physical features, for instance, body constitution differs from country to country and the same features often have different impact on modeling identity. Thus, culture in which a person is brought up and social experiences that a person comes to know forge one’s individuality. In my opinion, although characteristics succeeded from parents are important for development of a human being, the role life experiences outweigh them. From my point of view, passed-down traits could be seen as the foundation on which a personality is built via having a wide variety of experiences.