Over the years there has been a lot of debate over what influences
the development of our personality - genetics (heredity) or environment (the
things we are exposed to as we grow up.
Some schools of thought come down heavily in favour of one
side of the debate or the other and some back one side or the other. And there
is some evidence around to support either point of view.
It's clear that the issue is far from settled - in the same
way that the behaviourist school vies with the cognitive theories to understand
behaviour. Of course with the passage of time these two schools came together
and became somewhat resolved (at least in pragmatic terms) in the form of Cognitive
Behaviour Therapy.
