Hereditary in Personality Development
Meaning of Hereditary
Heredity refers to the passing of traits from parents to offspring either through asexual or sexual reproduction. It influences man’s social behaviour and through the process of heredity that children normally get some of the physical and psychological characteristics of their parents. Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 – 1884) was the first to carry out a study on the transmission of characteristics from the parents to the offspring. He proposed that heredity is controlled by factors, which are now believed to be segments of chromosomes or genes. These traits are passed on in the form of genetic information from parents to offspring.
Hereditary in Personality Development
Biological inheritance provides the raw materials of personality and these raw materials can be shaped in many different ways. All normal healthy human beings have certain biological similarities. Still every person’s biological inheritance is unique. It means that no other person (except an identical twin) has exactly the same inherited physical characteristics. People believed for a very long time that a person’s personality was nothing more than the unfolding of that person’s biological Inheritance. Such personality traits as-perseverance, ambition, honesty, criminality, intelligence, Sex deviation, physical energy, and most other traits were believed to arise from inherited predispositions. Such an idea, of course, is rarely believed today.
The influence of heredity in shaping human personality and determining human behaviour has been highlighted by the supporters of heredity such as Francis Galton, Karl Pearson, William McDougall, and others.
Francis Galton (1822-1911) in his book “Hereditary Genius” pointed out that human differences are inborn. In his opinion men who achieve greatness are naturally capable. He argues that human beings are fundamentally unequal. This inequality is due to two factors namely: heredity and is environment, among which heredity is more dominant. He also gives evidences to support his views. According to him, an able father produces able children. Further, royal families produce more men of intelligence than the ordinary families. He says the environment has little to do with the achievements of the people. He even tried to show that the children would be greatly gifted when the father was of higher intelligence. “Nature prevails enormously over nurture,” he maintained. He, however, concluded that “no man can achieve a very high reputation without being gifted with very high ability.”
Karl Pearson (1857) continued the works of Francis Galton. Pearson and his followers after making some studies concluded that “man varies; that these variations favourable or unfavourable are inherited.” He tried to show that heredity is more than seven times more important than environment.
William McDougall believed that individuals inherit innate tendencies or instincts that significantly shape their behaviour and emotional dispositions. These inherited traits, programmed in the nervous system and brain, contribute to individual differences in personality. Understanding these innate drives could have social implications and aid in organizing society in a way that aligns with individuals’ natural inclinations. While McDougall’s ideas were influential in his time, contemporary perspectives in psychology recognize the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping human personality.
Rao, S. C. N. (2019). Sociology: Principles of Sociology with an Introduction to Social Thought. S. Chand Limited. (pp. 138-140)
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