Posted by Claudia on March 05, 1998 at 01:46:33:
In Reply to: Re: Is your type a result of "nature" or "nurture"? posted by John DiFool (4w5) on February 18, 1998 at 23:35:25:
: Hmm...I would have to say..."a little of both."
: One trial is not enough to form a conclusion, but, in my case, well, here
: are the facts. My dad appears to have descended from a long line of type
: Ones (I know his dad was, and, after looking at a photo of his stern-
: looking granddad, I think he was as well), while my mom (a 2), the oldest
: in her family, almost broke down and cried when I made the observation to
: her to the effect that she seemed to have many responsibilities when she
: was growing up.
: As for me, I'm adopted. I don't know what I would have become if I
: had been adopted in another family. After meeting my birthmother last
: month for the first time(!), I can definitely see the similarities. We
: both are emotional, march to our own drummer, and have a strong compassionate
: streak, but she is a dedicated runner while I must be ENTERTAINED if I am
: going to exercise any, or forget it. Too many things about me seem
: innate-my imagination, my sensitivity (tho I am trying to accomplish the
: difficult task of making my skin tougher without encasing myself in
: umpteen layers of emotional armor!), even stuff like my 20-15 vision,
: which must have made a difference somehow...
: Anyway, the upshot of all this is that, perhaps in another family I
: would have been a Two, or a Nine, or a dedicated Five. I doubt that I
: would have been an Eight, definitely not a One (that streak is broken
: forever!), maybe a Seven, too individualistic to be a Three or Six. Maybe
: nature precludes some pathways while leaving others open but
: nurture makes the final determination.
: ---John DiFool
: "It's hard to watch the past drizzling past..."
: ---The Church
In my opinion, nature does the calling: the personality type is given to a person at birth (or before). My kid's only 16 months old and already shows signs of a ONE so clearly.
In addition to the personality fixation, there are the "learned" traits that the kids pick up along the way. That's why it seems so hard at times to determine which type we are.
Claudia