Heridity_Ans_Hormones_on_Human_Behavior

Heredity and Hormones on Human Behavior By Patricia Morr BEH/225 August 19,2010 Many things affect the way human behavior are shaped and by life experiences and how we react to those experiences can be traced back to hormones and our family histories. Both nature and how we were nutured affect human behavior. We inherit certain genes from each of our parents at conception. When you put the two together it creates a whole new physical trait that can be apparent or appear later on in life. A person with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and many other mental illnesses have a tendancy to also have a family history of the illness. Having a blood relative with an certain type of behavioral illness will most likely be apparent within the same family. But also hormones are responsible for a number of human functions. Hormones have a huge impact on human behavior, especially mood. The endocrine system which is made up of the hypothalamus, putitary gland, the pineal body, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, thymus, pancreas, adrenal glands, ovaries and testes all secrete different hormones. Many people become aware of hormones at the onset of puberity. The thyroid gland that is responsible for metabolism is also responsible for a number of human behaviors. “An overactive gland can produce a variety of symptoms: overexcitability, insomnia, reduced attention span, fatigue, agitation, acting out of charcter, and snap decisions, as well as reduced concentration and difficulty focusing on a task.” (Morris and Maisto, 2005). Just as the thyroid gland is responsible for hormones that affect a number of behavioral symptoms, so too are other glands. Estrogen and testosterone are hormones that both men and women become aware of in early childhood. Both of these hormones are responsible for sexual desire but play different roles in opposite sexes. Testosterone has been attributed to triggering aggression although women can be aggressive also if they have high levels of testosterone in their system. When the estrogen level drops off this triggers the menstrual cycle which then causes behavior of irritability and depression. Hormone fluctuations of any kind can cause a shift in human behavior. If a person is lacking sugar or has to much of it, it can cause a person to become irritable or sluggish. As we can see, heredity can have an effect on human behavior s long as the circumstances are right. Hormones on the other hand, do have an effect on human behavior. Hormones do not need environmental influences to have an effect on behavior. Heredity and hormones together help to create personalities that are unique to each person. Although if you were to study Behavioral Genetics you would find if you took an identical set of twins and separated them at birth in the same type of family environment that their behavioral are no more alike than fraternal twins. Twin studies have provided evidence for the heritability of behaviors ranging from verbal skills (Eley, Bishop, etal., 1999), to mannerisms such as strength of a handshake (Farber, 1981), to depression and anxiety (Eley & Stevenson, 1999; O’Connor, McGuire, Reiss, Hertherington, & Plomin, 1998). If one twin were to develop schizophrenia, chances that the other twin will are 50% and in fraternal twins about 15%. Genetics do play a big role in different personalities, interests, and talents. Much as behavior genetics try to explain the individual differences in human behavior, evolutionary psychologist try to explain the behavioral traits people have in common. The key to these shared characteristics, they feel, is the process, of evolution by natural selection, first described by Charles Darwin in the Orgin of Species (1959). According to the principle of natural selection, those organisms that are best adapted to their environments are most likely to survive and reproduce. Those that do not survive cannot pass the traits they have learned on to future generations. Psycologist emphasize that behavior should not be viewed as justifiable or even adaptive simply because at one time it might have served as important function; “What is” should not confused with “What should be.” But this point gets lost particularly in popular accounts of scientific research (Pinker, 2002). So we have seen how heredity and hormones influence our behavior of our daily lives hopefully research will continue on many other aspects of behavior we may not think about. References: Morris,C.andMaisto,A.(2005).Psychology:AnIntroduction(12thED).PrenticeHall.