The Effects of Divorce on the Nature vs.

Nurture Dichotomy

Samuel (Alex) Faris
Psych 212
Prof. Murillo













The dichotomy of nature versus nurture has been the topic of many
discussions in the psychological world. Some believe that it is in one's nature, or
genetic makeup, to behave or look a certain way, or to possess a certain trait
(such as intelligence). Others believe that the traits are developed from the
environment you were raised on. This defines the nature versus nurture
dichotomy. Recently, it has been accepted that they both play an active role in
the development of a child's personality. (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2007) However,
what happens to the equilibrium when the child has limited contact to one of his
or her parents? A man, (who has requested that his real name not be used in
this report, so we will call him "Mike) whose parents went through a divorce
when he was 6 years old, was interviewed. The topic of the interview questions
related to the divorce, and how it affected the development of Mike.

Nature vs. Nurture
Some people in the psychological world believe that humans develop
personality, behaviors, and physical traits only through genetics, or "nature.
These people believe that humans are born with these traits, and there is little or
nothing that can alter the development of children. They have a predetermined
personality, behavior, and physical traits because of genetic makeup. (Sternberg
& Sternberg, 2009) n genetics, both the mother and the father donate
chromosomes that are made of genetic material. The genetic material is read
inside the body, and the genes alter the physical appearance, behavior, or
personality of the person. Both parents play an equal role in this, since they are
both donating genetic material. (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2007) This is the backbone of
the argument for the "nature side of the dichotomy.
On the other side of the dichotomy, people claim that the environment and
role models are the things that affect the development of children. (Sternberg &
Sternberg, 2009) This is referred to as "nurture. These people believe that the
upbringing strategy used by parents, the influence of role models, the interaction
with peers, and other environmental factors are the only devices used in
childhood development. On the "nurture side of the argument, these
environmental contexts are thought to be enough to shape a child's personality.
However, after more research and deliberation over this issue, there has
been a consensus that a person cannot develop exclusively to either one of
these ideas. (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2007) Both nature and nurture must play a role
in personality development. n 2001, scientists on the PBS series NOVA
described their opinion on the idea of nature vs. nurture. They believe that there
are certain genes that will affect personality, such as the proteins involved in
transmitting signals in the brain. However, they acknowledge that the
environment plays a major role in shaping the personality of a human being. n
the article, the example of a "gay gene was used. They stated that there is no
known gene that encodes for homosexuality, so there must be an environmental
influence that makes someone homosexual. So the nature vs. nature issue, that
was once very two sided, has now come to an agreement that both nature and
nurture play an important role in personality development.

vorce
As stated by the "nurture side of the argument, there are many
environmental factors that can influence the development of an individual. The
focus of this interview was how divorce affects the development of a child.
Divorce is an environmental influencer, but does the removal of a parent from a
child's life also remove a portion of the development? Or do they make up for the
lack of a role model by developing their own traits, or by looking to other people
to fill in for the missing role model? n some instances, the lack of second parent
can cause the child to not develop properly, which could lead to misbehaving,
drug use, and low self-confidence. Are these traits because of the divorce? Or
are the children genetically predisposed to these traits, and the divorce just
brings them out? n a study done in 2000, children of divorced families showed
signs of misbehavior, drug use, low self-confidence, and low academic abilities.
However, when these attributes were compared to similar children in families in
which parents did not divorce, there was not much difference. The study
concluded that there is a potential predisposed genetic code that is brought out
by the separation of the child's parents, and that it should be researched more in
depth. (O'Conner et al., 2000) n the interview performed, though, Mike does not
show these signs.

Intervew
Mike is a 22-year-old student at Pennsylvania State University. His parents went
through a divorce when he was 6 years old. He spent the majority of his time
living with his mother, and only saw his father every Wednesday and every other
weekend. He is currently a psychology major at PSU.

Alex: How old were you when your parents got divorced?

Mike: was six years old when they got divorced.

Alex: After the divorce went through, did you spend more time with your mother,
your father, or an equal amount of time with both parents?

Mike: spent more time with my mother. would see my father every other
weekend. Once a week, on Wednesday nights, he would pick me up and would
go eat dinner with him. After dinner he would drop me off at my mom's house
again.
Alex: Do you feel like you have developed a lot of traits from your mom?

Mike: Yeah, would say there are a few traits have in common with my mom.

Alex: What kind of personality traits?

Mike: My mom is a very compassionate and caring woman. Over the years,
have also become very compassionate, caring, and sympathetic. 'm always the
one that my friends go to when they have an issue. My mom and are also
people persons; we both love being social. f we're out at a dinner party
somewhere, we're never by ourselves. We're always engaging someone in some
kind of conversation. My mother also loves doing things and staying busy. She
works all day, and then comes home and takes care of a bunch of house chores
(walking the dog, emptying the dishwasher, doing laundry, cooking dinner, etc.).
feel like 'm very similar in that sense. don't do as much as she does, but like
to keep busy and will find anything to do in order to stay busy.

Alex: You've listed a bunch of personality traits that could be classified as "good".
Do you see any traits that you share with her that are "bad"?

Mike: When things get hard, tend to procrastinate a lot. She does that too.
We're both serious procrastinators. When there has been something that could
offset us emotionally, we both tend to shut down. She tends to stay in bed and
read. tend to stay in bed and play video games. Both involve staying in bed and
really just escaping reality. We don't get frustrated easily, but when we do get
frustrated we both have a tendency to lose control of our tempers. There's never
any kind of violence, just persistence in trying to sort out the cause of the
frustration, which could involve yelling. We also have hereditary anxiety
disorders and depression, but that's something that we're both able to keep in
check.

Alex: Are there any personality traits that you feel you have developed from your
father?

Mike: That's a tough question.Give me a second to think about it. think 've
developed impulsivity from my father. 'd give you an example, but can't think of
one. Aside from that, it's tough to say what other traits 've developed from him.

Alex: What personality traits (if any) do you feel like you have developed on your
own?

Mike: feel like the majority of my personality traits were developed on my own,
but are complemented nicely by the traits developed from my mother. think
'm a fairly strong leader, and the compassionate trait was talking about earlier
complements that quite nicely. 'm always willing to try new things. think that's
one that developed on my own. My eyes are wide open, and rarely turn down
an opportunity to do something new. love learning about the way things work,
and my curiosity knows no limits.

Alex: As you got older, did you feel yourself developing certain personality traits
before your peers?

Mike: As got older, didn't want to be looked at as some kid. wanted to be
accepted as an adult by the age of 16. This probably happened because was
always helping my mom out around the house, and being the "man of the house
with my mom and my younger brother. really wanted people to look at me as a
mature person, rather than just some 15 or 16-year-old kid. Because of that,
think developed maturity a lot faster than my peers. was able to have stronger
critical thinking about situations or other things before my friends did. think that
really helped shape me into being a fairly strong leader in other aspects of my
life. wanted to be my own person ASAP, so tried hard to develop a sense of
who am.

Alex: Do you feel like the personality traits you developed from your favored
parent are stronger than the ones developed from the less favored parent?
(Favored in terms of time)

Mike: would say that the personality traits developed from my mom are much
stronger than the ones 've developed from my dad. Which makes sense, right?
spent more time with her.

Alex: Do you feel like you have more self-developed personality traits than you
do learned traits from your parents?

Mike: Yeah, think do. have a lot of the compassionate and hardworking traits
that 've gotten from my mom, but they complement the other traits developed
on my own.


Alex: Can you put your finger on a place where the other traits you developed
yourself came from? Maybe a role model, peers, or innate senses?

Mike: Well, 've always felt the desire to be a leader. So suppose that would be
an innate trait. 've also always felt the need for curiosity. When was growing
up, remember sitting in the car asking my parents "what's that say? and
pointing to street signs so could learn how to read. don't think learned that
from anyone, so 'd say it's an innate sense as well. As far as the desire to try
new things goes, 've always looked up to people who are able to go out and try
new things. can't put my finger on one person in particular, but think that my
desire to try new things stems from anyone 've ever met who has had an
adventurous personality.

ConcIuson
n Mike's responses, he told us of many traits that developed from
interactions with his mother, other role models, or traits that he developed on his
own. He seemed more proud and excited about the personality traits that he
developed on his own: leadership, curiosity and a longing for adventure. Had his
father played a more active role in his life, would he have developed these traits?
Perhaps, but he wouldn't have had the direct interactions with the role models
that he acquired them from. What can be taken from this interview is that Mike,
and potentially other children elsewhere, developed personality traits mainly from
his mother, and was then able to take the positive traits he saw in other
individuals that he viewed as role models and apply them towards his own life.
From what he described, he sought out nurture to develop himself into the
person he is today, since a piece of his life, his father, was not as present as it
should have been.
t could have also been in Mike's nature to cope with the situation
effectively. Mike has shown that he did not fall into bad habits like drug use, or
experience from low self-esteem. This could solidify the idea that children who
exhibit low self-esteem or begin using drugs are genetically predisposed to
having the desires to do these things, and a traumatic experience like a divorce
activates those feelings and or desires. Mike could have a genetic makeup that
makes him able to cope with traumatic experiences better, thus allowing nature
to give him the ability to seek out nurture like he did.

Works Cited
Davies, K. (April 17
th
, 2001). 'A: ature vs. urture Revisited. Retrieved
November 16
th
, 2011, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/nature-
versus-nurture-revisited.html.

Kail, R., & Cavanaugh, J. (2007). Human Development: A Life-Span 'iew, 5
th

Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

O'connor, T., Plomin R., DeFries, J., & Caspi, A. (2000). How does Nature vs.
Nurture Affect Children of Divorce? Self-Help Magazine. Retrieved from
http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/article/children-of-divorce.

Sternberg, R., & Sternberg, K. (2009). Cognitive Psychology, 6
th
Edition.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.