3.2 Becoming you: How human development begins

Each one of us begins our developmental story at conception when the successful joining of an egg and sperm eventually produces an embryo. A lot is going on during this beginning phase of life, and so begins the dance of nature and nurture. Nature refers to the biological, genetic, and hereditary factors passed on to us by our parents and ancestors; nurture refers to the environmental and social factors that influence development, such as nutrition, stress, or access to health care (Tabery et al, 2014; Hosken et al, 2019).

Many scholars support the idea that nature and nurture are both significant, and it would be hard to find a single reason for a trait or characteristic. Both are important, and even impact each other, in a process called bidirectionality (Lerner, 2006). This means that aspects of our genetic and hereditary factors may influence the kind of nurturing environment we need to thrive. Nurture may, in turn, influence how our genes impact our day to day interactions with ourselves and others. The influence works in both directions. Let’s use height as an example of how nature and nurture influence each other.