There are two general ways a child develops personality traits that are similar to their parents. One way is known as nature and the other is nurture. Nature means that a child inherits a character trait from their parents when they are born. As they grow they already have that character trait and share it with their parents. Nurture means a child develops a character trait by learning it through their parents. They can develop these traits by observing their parents and then copying them, whether they know they are doing it or not. Nurture is developing a character trait based off of how you were raised. For example, being more or less aggressive because your parents gave you a lot of attention or very little attention as a child. Nature is something you were born with and nurture is something that develops as you grow because of how you were raised.
Three nature traits that I inherited from my parents are discipline, lack of athleticism, and work ethic. While I inherited my work ethic from both of my parents, I only inherited my discipline and lack of athleticism from my dad. Both my parents work hard at everything they do and they passed that work ethic on to me. One trait I inherited from just my dad is my lack of athleticism. My mother is athletic in every way, but my dad and I are not athletic. The only athletic activity we can do is run, which we both used to do. Many people say that if you try hard enough, you can be good at anything, but when it comes to sports my dad and I are not. Another trait I inherited is discipline. My mother and father both have it, but my dad has a lot more of it. I inherited my discipline mostly from my dad.
Three nurture traits that I have are aggression, intelligence, and independence. I have developed each of these traits because of how my parents raised me. I developed intelligence because my parent always pushed me to do my best and continue to push me to do my best. My parents also would help me on schoolwork if I needed it. If my parents did not help me with schoolwork and push me to do my best, I would not be where I am today. Another trait I have
developed because of how my parents raised me is aggression. My sister is six years older than me and when I was three years old, she was diagnosed with autism. I understand now that she needed more attention than me, but as a young child I felt I needed it just as much. My parents gave me attention when it came to school, but when my sister needed something she would come first. This caused a lot of aggression that I still have today. It mostly comes out when I am being ignored, but there are other times I feel angry over smaller things because I always felt like second or third place after my older brother and sister. Lastly, for the same reason, I developed the trait independence. My parents gave my sister a lot more attention than they gave me and as a result I learned to do a lot of activities on my own. My sister needed more help than me so I had to learn a sense of independence if I wanted to succeed.
Both nature and nurture traits affect me a lot, but nurture traits affect me more. If I was not as smart as I am today, I would not have had so much success in school and work. Also, without my independence I would not be able to do a lot of activities. Even though aggression is not a good thing, it has affected me a lot. I have learned to handle better than before, but it is something I will always have to be careful of. Traits that I inherited do not affect me as much because I have had them my whole life, but I have not necessarily had traits I developed because of how my parents raised me my whole life.
