Chapter 2 Outline

1. CONFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE IN PERSONALITY
A. How do nature and nurture interact to confluence personality?
i. Nature (heredity), nurture (environment), and personality (behavior) 
1. Examples: Nature (race, gender, etc.), Nurture (status, roles, etc.) 
1. Biological factors (I) variable, Sociocultural environment (Inter) variable and Personality (D) variable 
iii. Genetic inheritance and Environmental influences 
1. Geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky Similar genes in unlike environments—different effects, vise versa — similar effects 
2. Psychologists Lazarus and Monat state that “inheritability can never be judged as abstract but in a particular context and subject to change
3. Charles Darwin proposed a theory “survival of the fittest” which depends on a species adaptability to the environment for survival. 
a. Application to Psychology: Francis Galton’s Hereditary Genius claimed that he found empirical data to correlate hereditary and intelligence 
b. Application to Sociology: Herbert Spencer used natural selection to assert his theory of unilinear social evolution on adaptation 
iv. Ethnocentric Theory of Social Evolution 
1. Gobineau’s Essay on the Equality of Human Races claimed that the Aryan branch of the white race assumed superiority through innate intelligence 
2. Robertson’s evolutionary typology reflected the unilinear development of culture characterized in three stages 
2. RACE AND INTELLIGENCE
A. IQ and Testing
i. Psychologist Arthur R. Jensen published an article and claimed that he found a large amount of empirical evidence to support the following assertions 
1. Eighty-percent of human intelligence is inherited 
2. African-Americans scored on the average fifteen points less than white Americans on most IQ tests
3. IQ difference between these racial groups is due to genetic factors
4. Compensatory education is unnecessary, since blacks knowledge is limited due to their lower innate intelligence. 
ii. Culture-Fair Test
1. IQ tests may be loaded with cultural biases which make cultural comparisons redundant. 
a. Soul Brother Test (Box 2.1) is an example of an IQ test used for inner city black children of low SES in the 60s that is outdated. 
b. The BITCH -100 suggested by Robert L. Williams (1975) may be fair for black Americans only 
2. “Culture Specific” tests could be used to determine the child’s ability to think cognitively of their own culture and environment 
3. Conventional IQ tests can not measure separate dimensions of human adaptability 
a. Creativity and social competence 
4. Robert J. Sternberg’s “triarchic theory” attempts to understand human intelligence 
a. Componential (analytical thinking), experiential (creativity), and the contextual (social competence). 
iii. Is there a Pure Race?
1. Jensen’s generalization of the individual IQ scores on his sample racial groups level precisely implies the existence of pure races. 
2. Cross-continental surveys from other groups are more appropriate than Jensen’s comparison of diverse demographics within the same location. 
3. Human variations resulted from four evolutionary processes 
a. Natural selection
b. Interbreeding 
c. Genetic drift 
d. Mutation 
iv. How about Twin Studies?
1. Hereditary-intelligence is questioned by studying identical twins who are reared apart in different environments
2. This approach faces problems of sample validity 
a. Most twins are commonly placed in similar environments and treated similar by their parents and others (Lazarus and Monat 1979)
3. A recent study of Scarr and Barker (1981) on black and white twins enabled them to evaluate the genetic versus cultural differences in IQ
3. BIOLOGICAL FACTORS IN CRIMINALITY 
i. Somatotypes and Delinquency 
1. Individual’s permanent pattern of body build determined by the relative strength of three major structural components
a. Endomorphy- relative predominance of the digestive system in the bodily economy and tend to become spherically compact 
b. Mesomorphs- muscular strength and ruggedness due to their chiefly bone and muscle 
c. Ectomorphy- stretched out quality and have more skin on their body 
ii. XYY Karyotype and Criminality 
1. The study of chromosome configuration 
2. Some scholars claim that they have discovered a linkage between the abnormal XXY-karyotype in men and criminality/aggression 
iii. Criminality Among Twins
1. The theory that criminals are either born or made can not be tested effectively without large cross-cultural samples of twins
2. Christiansen review six studies that involved eight pairs of twins who exhibited either concordance or discordance in criminality. 
a. Discordant case studied by Yoshimasu (1961) illuminates the environmental factors in criminality, criminals are rather “made”
4. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERSONALITY 
i. Sex Differences in Statistical Data
1. Women generally live longer than men as indicated by Table 2.1 
a. Higher rates of life expectancy among women 
b. Lower rates of suicide rates, crime rates, and illnesses for women
ii. Mental Disorders
1. No consistent rates of psychoses in general or of schizophrenia 
2. Higher rates of manic-depressive psychosis among women
3. Consistently higher rates of neurosis in women universally 
4. Consistently higher rates of personality disorder in men universally 
5. Based on Gove and Tudor (1973) findings, married women are significantly more vulnerable to mental disorders 
iii. Intellectual Abilities 
1. Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) identified the following findings on the sex differences in cognitive abilities 
a. Higher mathematical abilities for males than females 
b. Greater visual-spatial abilities for males
c. Greater verbal abilities for females than males 
d. Females’ higher abilities in writing skills
e. No significant sex differences in IQ and creativity 
2. There are variations to these findings in certain areas based on environmental influences. 
iv. Aggression and Other Personality Traits 
1. The most documented cross-cultural sex difference in interpersonal behavior is that boys exhibit more aggression after age of 3
a. Frieze emphasizes the need to distinguish various forms of aggression, such as physical and verbal, direct and indirect
b. In some cases, more aggression was observed among females in terms of verbal and indirect aggression 
2. Consistent findings on conformity, play behavior, dominance, dependency, social distancing, and nurturance are features evident in sex differences 
a. Girls may seek more intimate social contacts, whereas boys may be more extensively sociable yet more distancing
b. Data from other cultures suggest that there more variability in nurturance and proximity to parents 
5. SOCIOBIOLOGY
A. Ethology and population biology can ultimately explain human social behavior including, marriage, extra-marital sex, nepotism, altruism, inter-generational, etc.
i. On Marriage Forms-Polygyny and Monogamy 
1. Nonhumans achieve this discriminative mate selection measured by the function of resources
2. In human polygynous societies, polygyny is reserved for individuals who control greater resources 
ii. On Extra-Marital Sex
1. Males potentially maximize their fitness by a degree of reproductive, parental, and commitment to their mate
2. In terms of Darwinian fitness, men are threatened more than women by extramarital copulations by their partner.
iii. On Altruism 
1. It is more adaptive when directed toward those with the greatest likelihood of reproduction
2. Preferred beneficiaries should have access to resources that they could offer to altruist
3. Altruists should direct their attention toward individuals who are more likely to live long and benefit the altruist 
iv. The study of personality thus involves both biological and sociocultural factors that determine evolutionary biology.