The nature vs nurture is a debate which has been prevalent since the dawn of medical advancements. It is an argument between human psychology and biology. It presents both sides of the debate by giving argumentative points on nature are well as Nurture and who has a dominant influence on a persons’ behaviour.

In this article, you will learn about the meaning of both the terms in details and why it is such a significant topic in a person’s personal life as well as academic. In this article, you will also learn about how to write an impressive Nature vs nurture essay.

Explanation and background
Before you get into writing a nature vs nurture it is necessary that you completely understand both sides around which the whole debate is built.

Nature: These are the aspects of our being which we do not pick by ourselves. These are mostly the physical and psychological factors of one’s body which he or she inherits from their biological parents. These factors are built in our genes and are passed down in a person’s nature of being through their parents and ancestors.

Nurture: Nurture consists of all the behavioural aspects which we acquire throughout our life. It is a major evolutionary measure and is supported by many important theories including Darwin’s theory of evolution. These factors may include the changes brought upon a person’s physical or behaviour through their childhood experiences, how and where they are raised, their nourishment, social and cultural environment etc.

Biology, psychology, behaviourism and philosophy these are the three main fields of academics which have a major influence on the history of this debate. All of them try to put their statements of arguments or in support of one of the two i.e. Nature vs Nurture. Some believe that the nature and pre-wiring of a person’s body plays a major role in determining their physical and behavioural attributes, whereas some say that the genes and inheritance of a person has a lesser influence and that their choices and past experiences: voluntary or involuntary have a major part in deciding a person’s physical and mental abilities.

Although it is not possible to determine where and how this debate started and came to be as a huge topic as we know it today. But some people believe that it has its roots set deep beginning in the ancient period as some great philosophers such as Descartes and Plato stated that few aspects of human beings do not influence their upbringing and environment over them. Whereas in the early 1900s, John Watson; who is regarded as the father of behaviourism by many, put forth the theory of behaviourism. This states that the behavioural characteristics of a human being are acquired through their conditioning. This theory prevailed in the beginning but with time discoveries and scientific evidence came to light and this theory was countered by many biologists and philosophers.

Effects: To understand this better let us discuss some features and influences of both nature and nurture.

Health and Diseases: Disease transfer is an important deciding point in this debate. There are many diseases which a child or offspring inherits from its parents. These disease or health issues are inbuilt in their genes and are present in at least one of the two parents. They are caused due to DNA abnormality. These genetic issues include Down syndrome, Sickle cell anaemia, Huntington’s disease, Patterned baldness, Thalassemia, Cystic Fibrosis and many more.

Mental Health: Mental health is an issue which is influenced by both natures as well as nurture. But many studies have revealed that nurture has more part to play in the conditioning of a person’s mental well-being. For example, the various psychological issues which are caused by the surrounding environment and the upbringing of a person are Depression, Bi-polar disorder, Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, ADHD, Eating Disorders.

Parental Influence:
Temperament: The temperament of a child is significantly influenced by observing the people around them and their daily surrounding and environment. If a child is around arguments and shootings for a major part of their upbringing, this influences them in such a way that they have anger issues in their adolescence.

Behavioural Inheritance: There are some behavioural characteristics which we inherit from our parents. To find more evidence on these studies has been performed on twin siblings. It was observed that it if one of the siblings develops or acquires a certain trait or condition, there is a 50% probability that the other twin will develop that trait as well.

Applications of Nature vs Nurture

Through the years as science and technology advanced, discoveries were being made continuously all over the world. This led to setting strong foundations on both sides of the debates. It has spread to such an extent that it now a debate of whose theory is more correct. Nature vs Nurture has become a technique of analysis using which we can determine and predict the behaviours a being. All the conflicting fields have come together to utilize their knowledge and strong point to study and evaluate various aspects and issues and why they work as such.

The nature vs nurture approach of analysis can be applied on a topic or a subject to study how their behaviours came to being and how are they influenced. It gives an insight into how the particular issue came to being and using them, how we can predict the future behaviours and act accordingly.

By making slight changes in our analysis approach we study a different aspect of the subject with new results, which give us an option to use this method of analysis in various fields of psychology as well as biology and philosophy. For example, most of the studies include both approaches in their study, whereas in many cases of psychological therapies, different discoveries may be observed by adopting a more nurture based analysis approach or nature-based approach.

Writing a nature vs nurture essay

Now that you have understood what the whole debacle is all about. Now you can start to write your nature vs nurture essay.

The thing that sets this essay topic apart is that, despite being a debate, a nature vs nurture essay can be categorised as both argumentative and persuasive essay. Depending upon the topic or subject of study and the findings of your analysis, the there format of the essay can be determined, either it will be in an argumentative essay style or a persuasive essay style. In both, the case, nature vs nurture essay proves to be a great way to say your point of view on a particular topic and show off your analytical skills.

Tips to keep in mind
Here are a few tips you must keep in mind while writing a nature vs nurture essay:

1. Select your Topic Carefully: The topic of your selection will determine what type of analysis you will be performing. Pick a topic which you are most comfortable with so that you have plenty of pre-existing knowledge on it. A good topic will ease your thought process, as ideas and questions will come to you rather than you finding questions through your research.
2. Find reliable sources: This is very important as not all sources will give the correct information. Look for credible information and sources to support your claims more easily.
3. Include case studies: Including case studies and their results increases the conviction level of your essay. The main aspect of nature vs nurture essay is persuasion, thus is very necessary to provide evidence which backs up your thesis or statements.
4. Support your Claims: While writing the essay in an argumentative style, pick a side which you think has more claim and support it throughout the essay.
5. Look for examples: Go through multiple examples of writings which are similar to your topic. This gives you an idea about how you should build the format of your essay.
6. Do thorough research: No matter which topic you choose, if it’s a known topic or if an unknown subject is assigned to you. You must always do your thorough research so that you get all the information you will be requiring in your essay. By doing prior research you identify the points which need the most emphasis in the essay to support your claims and to follow a clear flow of thought.
7. Your analysis should be decisive and backed by references.
8. Keep your target audience in mind while writing the essay.

Structure of Nature vs Nurture Essay

The main structure of nature vs nurture essay is the same as any other essay. It consists of an introduction, the body of the essay and a conclusion.

• Introduction- Introduce the topic to the reader. Explain in brief about the whole nature vs nurture debate and how you are going to use it to analyse your subject. Provide an intriguing thesis statement at the end of the introduction.
• Body- This is where you go in-depth about the issue or the subject of your study. Use multiple paragraphs to explain your topics. Make sure you follow a single topic throughout the paragraph.
• Conclusion- Mention the thesis statement in the conclusion. Summarise all the ideas and points presented by you in the essay. Provide the results or findings of your analysis and suggest some outcomes. Give an ending statement which is a conclusion of the essay. This statement should intrigue the reader such that they have something to think about after completing the essay.