Children Born out of Wedlock, Nature or Nurture?

Since time immemorial, the psychological realm has triggered a great debate on how the environmental and biological factors influence an individual’s behavior and physical characteristics. This has so been of significance in trying to improve the academic sector and family welfare. The bottom line of this concept is an evaluation of each of the two dimensions to determine which of them has the highest contribution to the individual. On one side lies the proponents of nurture who argue that individual traits are not innate but character and personality are cultured through time and space. On the converse are the proponents of nature who defend that behavior is biologically passed on from one generation to the other. This inquiry focuses on distinguishing between nature and nurture as well as delineating the most powerful side of this concept. In particular, the argument supports the view that nature has the greatest impact in defining individual behavior and hence, the cause of births out of wedlock.

The concept of nature is attributable to the study of peoples’ behavior. The theory borrows from biology and purports that individual character traits are generated genetically. Each behavior or character is scientifically coded in the DNA of the individual and that the individual can only display the traits once they are mature (Kellis et al., 2014). The proponents of the concept use Darwin’s arguments about the transfer of genes from the parent to the offspring through inheritance and present that people acquire their traits from their parents (Jobling, Hurles, and Tyler-Smith, 2013). In this regard, personal characteristics can be traced back to the person’s lineage. Therefore, there are deterministic genes for every character trait. For instance, there are genes for Intelligence Quotient (IQ), sexual orientation, morality, aggression, personality, and physical elements such as hair color and height. The causal factor for children born out of wedlock is thus with respect to the genetic encoding.

The IQ variance in children can be explained using the concept of nature through genes and hereditary. The evidence is available in studies that have compared adopted children and their counterparts. Tucker-Drob, Briley, and Harden (2013) argue that children born out of wedlock show a zero correlation in IQ when compared to the other siblings. Similarly, studies depict that siblings born of same parents portray a significant correlation in IQ suggesting that the intellectual abilities of the children were hereditarily transmitted from the parents. However, this does not mean that inheritance of traits occurs in equal measure among the siblings. Such children differ in intellectual ability since some genes are recessive (Tucker-Drob, Briley, and Harden, 2013). Research on twins has cemented the concept of nature. Studies show that if either fraternal or identical twins are brought up in different families or environments they will indicate an IQ high correlation as opposed to the children born out of wedlock. Comparatively, employing the concept of nature helps examine the probability of children being born out of wedlock if they depict the above features. Nurture proves less significance with respect to the IQ in these children.

Studies on adopted and twin children have been applied in analyzing inheritable traits in personality and have shaped the debate in nature versus nurture context. This entails the study of personality traits such as cognitive, emotional issues, and routine behaviors. Twins and especially the monozygotic duplets epitomize highly similar personality that extends to adulthood while adoptive children show some degree of similarity that disappears in adulthood. This suggests that socialization influences personality to a certain extent but the impact is not strong enough to cross into adulthood. In this regard, nature takes its course at the time of the maturation of the gene coding that particular trait (Tucker-Drob et. al., 2013). The behavior of children born out of wedlock deviates from family expectations as they enter into adulthood. Archontaki et al. (2013) argue that the comparison between monozygotic and dizygotic twins shows that personality traits are highly similar between monozygotic twins suggesting that it is so since the same fertilization occurred, hence acquiring similar genes.

A well-known area of contend between proponents of nature and its constraints is the process of language acquisition. The nativists’ theoretical proposition proposes that there is the innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD) that capacitates children to learn languages (Graham and Fisher, 2013). This explains why some people are born speechless. The theory suggests that such people lack the language acquisition device and it becomes difficult for them to learn and produce a language. Research has proven this theory through the study of different families raising speech-impaired children. There is evidence that parents who can learn and speak are capable of producing a speech-impaired child (Graham and Fisher, 2013). This suggests that such children lack a certain genetic trait necessary to learn how to speak. Similarly, research has shown that members of a family possess similar speech trait and that differences may only occur due to spouses engaging in affairs out of the wedlock. This insinuates that the child inherits the genes for LAD from either the father or the mother’s recessive genes.

Psychologists have since the 19th Century wondered if the abstract concepts of morality, sexual orientation, and homosexuality are inherited or learned. This led to an anonymous research across cultures to explain the concept. Genetics and hereditary materials play a key role in shaping human personality. Studies from siblings suggest that morality among siblings born within the wedlock tends to be similar due to the family restrictions but this similarity begins to disappear as children approach adulthood (Sherlock et al., 2016). Study on adoptive children and those born out of wedlock provide fundamental evidence for the contributions of nature in shaping the cooperative structures of the society. The personality developmental change in children born outside matrimonial circles affirms the impact of nature as a cause of this behavior among married couples.

The genetic sense in morality has also provided insightful explanations on the concept of sexual orientation. That is, explanation on the individual, personal, and social identities based on the emotional and the sexual attraction for either sex or both. The main challenge revolves around the effect of hormones, genes, and the neurological systems of human beings. Research on the American population reveals that sexuality and homosexuality are attached to the genetics (Blackwood, 2013). Cross-cultural studies indicate that gays and lesbians cut across all cultures. This confirms that nature influences the occurrence at a higher notch than nurture as homosexuality would vary across cultures. Relatively, the issue of children born outside marriages occurs in the same sense across all cultures. Therefore, this explains that nature controls the significant portion of behavioral characters.

The nativist approach in hereditary and genetics has provided evidence to prove that nature has a great influence on individuals’ behavior and personality. However, recent research indicates that nature and nurture interact to produce the holistic person. This has led to a reflection on the influence that nurture has on nature and hence leading to a new shift in the discussion of the concept. Consequently, some scholars argue that nature and nurture are inseparable since each portion impacts on the other to determine an individual’s behavior (Coll, Bearer, and Lerner, 2014). The concept of nurture as it relates to how an individual socializes in the family and school indicates that children brought up in poor families or marginalized societies do not fully explore their capabilities and talents. This explains why twins brought up in different areas portray a significance difference in their success in particular fields like music and sports. The success of children living in the more privileged areas relates to the exposure that these children get from the family and school. This, therefore, delineates that nurture plays a role in the mentoring of the talent as well as revealing an individual’s capabilities.

In conclusion, the concept of nature is the major cause of the children born outside the wedlock since genes have a higher influence in profiling a persons’ behavior and personalities. Every behavior and personality trait is coded in the chromosomes. These traits move from the parent to the children through reproduction. Research has proven that similar characteristics between the parent and the child are as a result of the genetic inheritance that determines the physical traits such the skin complexion, hair color, and height. The concept of nature on abstract concepts such as sexuality and aggression describes an attachment of genetic codes on the DNA. This paper has unveiled that nature plays the most significant role in shaping behavior while nurture intervenes only when these particular genes are immature to express themselves. Children born out of wedlock differ with other siblings. However, family restrictions and teachings accompanied by school instructions can determine how such children develop. This ascertains the impact of the interrelationship of nature and nurture in determining behavior. The former is innate and acquired at birth while the latter is a consequence of socialization. Nevertheless, the society creates an interactive environment of the two from which a person develops their personalities and behavior.

References

Archontaki, D., Lewis, G. J., & Bates, T. C. (2013). Genetic influences on psychological well‐being: A nationally representative twin study. Journal of Personality, 81(2), 221-230.

Blackwood, E. (2013). The many faces of homosexuality: Anthropological approaches to homosexual behavior. Routledge.

Coll, C. G., Bearer, E. L., & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.). (2014). Nature and nurture: The complex interplay of genetic and environmental influences on human behavior and development. Psychology Press.

Graham, S. A., & Fisher, S. E. (2013).Decoding the genetics of speech and language. Current opinion in neurobiology, 23(1), 43-51.

Jobling, M., Hurles, M., & Tyler-Smith, C. (2013). Human evolutionary genetics: origins, peoples & disease. Garland Science.

Kellis, M., Wold, B., Snyder, M. P., Bernstein, B. E., Kundaje, A., Marinov, G. K., & Dunham, I. (2014). Defining functional DNA elements in the human genome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(17), 6131-6138.

Sherlock, J. M., Zietsch, B. P., Tybur, J. M., & Jern, P. (2016).The quantitative genetics of disgust sensitivity. Emotion, 16(1), 43.

Tucker-Drob, E. M., Briley, D. A., & Harden, K. P. (2013). Genetic and environmental influences on cognition across development and context. Current directions in psychological science, 22(5), 349-355.

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