What makes a person act the way they do?

[Hoshi_Mibu]

I believe that personality makes a personn act the way they do and personality developes from the experiances that people go through in life athough we might have some personality as a baby that comes from genetics but as soon as we come out of our mommys tummies we 99% of our personalitys by experiance.  

[Karnen]

I think it's experience, friends, the way you're brought up, maybe even religion, family, what we see other people do.  

[azrael the reaper_95210]

my theory is that we are all born with a basic knowledge of what is right and what is wrong......... it is tha people we know and the experiences we have that decide who we are. this is especially true when we are younger.......  

[Tarrien]

Personality and choice are caused by experiences and emotions.

-A kid will cry, groan, throw a fit if they know their parents will give in from past experience.

-A kid won't dare throw a fit, cry or groan if their parents have given them swift hits to the bottom if they did it before.

Emotions tie into experiences.... A person who didn't have an enjoyable time ice skating- Won't go again if they didn't enjoy it... that is unless, they have someone they have emotional attachment to wants them to go.  

[Chime Elf]

Okay, I'll tie everyone's theories into my own theory.

HereThereAndBackAgain

We are born with certain character traits. As we grow up influences, such as people or events, further mold who we are. These influences could enforce the ‘basic personality’ we were born with, or mold us a new personality.

This is true. I remember from a discussion in Science last year. Your DNA and genetic make-up is what forms the basis of your personality. You have to have some sort of personality as a child, and this is heavily impacted by your genes, as you have not yet had much life-experience to "mold you", as such.

KeyLimePie69

I think the environment a person is brought up in is one of the biggest factors when considering how a person acts.

True. The environment is the world around us. Growing up, the environment factors include your parents: a lot of their opinions and habits and indoctrined into a child at a young age, without the intention to do so. It is just the constant exposure to them that "rubs" off on the child. But things abou their parents can also rub the "wrong" way, causing their opinions to form as the opposite of their parents. But still, this is an environment factor.

Your friends as you grow up - this is also from the constant exposure you have to your friends. Their likes, dislikes and opinions also tend to rub off to a slight degree in you, and helps shape your personality.

Vengeful-Suicide

But there are some factors where that one person CHOOSES a different path and does not follow those in they're enviroment.

Your choices in life depend on your personality, which has been impacted through environmental factors, so therefore your choices DO follow those caused by their environment.

Utasa

Maybe emotions are made of what you experience through your life

I couldn't agree with you more. Your emotions are impacted by your environment, by they are strongly impacted by your life experiences.

Fenera

-A kid will cry, groan, throw a fit if they know their parents will give in from past experience.

-A kid won't dare throw a fit, cry or groan if their parents have given them swift hits to the bottom if they did it before.

Right idea, but wrong situation. The average child will indeed continue to throw a fit in hope that they will eventually get their way. You don't learn from these kinds of situations at such a young age, as your brain is nowhere near its full development, and your brain does not yet comprehend the idea of 'learn from experience'. It takes years for your brain to be able to do so - roughly just about before you start school.

But as I said, the general idea is there. People learn from past experiences, and therefore know what to do and what not to do in certain situations.

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Okay, to sum this whole thing up:
Genetics and DNA impact your personality basis.
Environment around you impacts on your choices, your opinions.
Experience impacts greatly on your emotions, thoughts and personality.

There are a gazillion other contributing factors, but we can all agree that these are the most valuable factors that make us who we are.

 

[Sotur]

i think it's a little bit of both. while the way u were raised and ur experiences obviously shape u [here comes the whole not making the same mistake twice; as in, experiences help u make decisions, and in doing so u act the way u do], i think the genes also partake some of it. i don't know how, since i'm no proffessional and all, but maybe genes DO have something do u. i mean, physical characteristics are inherited, why can't personality ones be inherited, too?  

[texita]

I am of the opinion that there are many factors that contribute to one's personality. There are enviromental and genetic factors. I do beleive that upbringing is a huge factor. A person's morals are typically set by the onset of puberty or say about age twelve. Just like a child's eating preferences are actually set by age 3. It is all a matter of nurturing and so forth.  

[Chime Elf]

Agreed.

 

[Baulder]

Nothing makes a person act the way they do. Humanity was given a gift that no other creature in the world was given, and that gift was the gift to choose.  

[IKurando]

well, whatever it is, it depends on one's mood, recent events, and whatever it is, it can sometimes get me into trouble whee  

[MonkofMajere]

The environment they grew up in, the events of their life, and, to an extent, genetics.  

[Chime Elf]

Isn't it nice to see that we all agree to some extent on this point.
*smiles all round*

 

[IKurando]

I cannot remember where I have heard this, but someone had said that people are fragile;they make friends based on how they feel at the moment. I gotta agree. what happens in the now has a massive impact on your action. if you are in a hostile environment, you aren't going to go around and shake everyone's hand. also, prettymuch everything said so far has a role in this topic.  

[Chime Elf]

Very true.

Although I reserve judgement on your comment that humans are fragile stressed

biggrin I'm a strong, independent woman! razz