Nature and nurture

Personality is defined in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as ‘that assemblage of qualities which makes a person unique’. Mature adult personality arises from a combination of factors derived from nature and nurture. Nature:

Genetic endowment.

Physical (biological) factors.

Nurture:

Psychological influences contributed from the child’s immediate environment, e.g. the home, school.

The wider socio-cultural environment in which the child grows up.