You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Which do you consider to be the major influence?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer 1: [View: Our life experience has more influence on our personality and development.]
Not sure, when and where I heard these wise words which basically suggest that “we are the products of our environment”, but I happened to wholeheartedly agree with them back then, just as I agree with them today. Therefore, it would only make sense for me to go along with an idea which suggests that the experiences, we may have in our life, have more influence on our personality and advancement than the characteristics we are born with for a couple of reasons.
First, personal growth and development is a combination of many visible and invisible transformational processes that are often triggered by important life events that inspire us to improve and empower ourselves by discovering where our full potential lies. And, that is exactly why we see some rather “mediocre” students, who always like to skip classes, become some of the top performers in their classes after being “coached” by some specialist teachers or through the dedication they put in to achieve something.
Secondly, even though, we humans may carry the same kind of characteristics in principle, with the same kind of hunger, thirst, compassion, fear and greed, which we are born with, we do not necessarily react in the same manner to the same event or stimuli. And, that is why, a person, who was used to swimming as a child, would not get as much scared of falling water as a person who never had a chance to swim before. Besides, human change and so is their characteristic with time and age, and therefore, we should not give them any more credit than what it really deserves, as far as the issue of influencing our personality and development is concerned.
To conclude, our experiences influence our character and development more than anything else in this world and that is why we are capable of achieving great things through our hard work and dedication.
Model Answer 2: [View: Characteristics we are born with have much more influence on our personality.]
Every human being is born with certain traits that make him the person he is. While our experience and knowledge influence our decisions, we are largely the outcome of our genetic blueprints and many research works denote that our personality and development are most likely to depend on the dispositions that we are born with. In my view, human beings are the embodiment of their genes.
Heredity is believed to be what shapes our personality traits, like extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness and neuroticism; because these all qualities are passed down from a parent to a child before the child is born. Thereby, it seems reasonable to assume that a newborn baby does not have a blank sheet of personalities but rather does have a set of intrinsic attributes. To justify the same, there are numerous empirical pieces of evidence. For example, biological siblings are quite likely similar in attitude to adopted siblings. Likewise, twin studies indicate that identical twins share almost 50 per cent of the same characteristics, whereas fraternal twins share merely about 15 per cent.
By the same token, genetics has been proven to be a key reason in the development of some mental health states, like bipolar, schizophrenia, and other depressions for example. A case in point is bipolar. The disease is five times more likely to develop if there is a family history of the illness. Likewise, research reveals that if one twin succumbs to schizophrenia, then another twin is most likely to develop the disease. Thus, congenital traits are the prominent contributing factor in the development of certain mental illnesses. Child prodigies in music, art, mathematics and so on are living examples of how they are born with certain talents and do not gain talents from mere observations.
In conclusion, human beings are born with certain personality traits that are the major contributing factor in developing their behavioural pattern and personality.
Model Answer 3: [View: The experiences we have in our lives have the major influences.]
The debate between the prominence of nature and nurture to define us has been a topic of discussion for decades. While some argue that genetics play a significant role in shaping our personality and development, others opine that environmental factors play a more substantial role. In my opinion, both nature and nurture play important roles in shaping our lives, but I believe that the experiences we have in our lives are the major influence on our personality and development.
Firstly, experiences in our life shape our personality and development in a significant way. Our family, friends, and the environment we grow up in have a massive impact on the person we become. For example, if a child grows up in a family that values education, the child is likely to place a high value on education and may become successful in life. Similarly, if a child grows up in a difficult environment with poverty and crime, the child may develop a tough exterior and become a survivor in life.
Secondly, while genetics play a role in our personality and development, research has shown that environmental factors can modify gene expression. This means that the experiences we have in life can affect the way our genes are expressed and, therefore, influence our personality and development. For example, studies have shown that children who grow up in an environment where they are exposed to high levels of stress may develop different personality traits than children who grow up in a stable environment.
In conclusion, while genetics play a role in shaping our personality and development, the experiences we have in our lives are the major influence. Our experiences shape who we become and can have a profound impact on our lives. Therefore, it is essential to provide children with positive experiences and a nurturing environment to help them develop into healthy and successful adults.
This post was last modified on 24th March 2023 4:28 am