Is our behaviour, both as individuals and as a species, governed by social constructs or biological traits?

Question

And are the two things entirely seperate?

Thanks

Answer 1

Both & no.

Are you studying Anthropology ?

Answer 2

It is a mixture of both nature and nurture. It's been proved that certain DNA strands are responsible for anti-social behaviour. But they are only triggered when they meet the criteria that dis functional nurturing has. For example, out of 10 persona, say 2 will have the DNA responsible for Psychopathic tendencies, but if one is raised in a loving, caring environment then they will probably grow up as with no psychopathic tendencies, the other if brought up in an environment of abuse is more likely to become a psychopath. Of course these are rough guidelines. You cannot put a rigid structure on the growth of any individual, but you can make predictions based on large groups.

Answer 3

The more I think about it, the more I would say our behavior is based on social constructs. Basically because of our ability to communicate and speak and think for ourselves, we don't need to depend on biological traits. However, we have a strong drive to model our behaviour on the behaviour of others.

Answer 4

Ah the classic nature/nurture debate... there are arguments for both but it is accepted that it is a case of both. personally i fall more towards the social side, i think we live in an entirely constructed world where meanings are apt to change ( fluid modernity...? ).

something like sex (male/femal) is biological but the gender is clearly socially constructed. we (usually) behave in the ways we are taught and that is expected of us.

masses of stuff in psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology on this debate. super -interesting topic...

Answer 5

mostly by biological traits, as can easily be observed among our closest relatives, chimpanzees, but social constructs seems to further complicate our behavior.
as a matter of fact, most of our social constructs are a result of biological traits.
take war between tribes/nations, chimps have them, and male groups of chimps behave much the same as soldiers.

Answer 6

our behaviour is more social than biological but a mixture of both

Answer 7

The Living Planet

Answer 8

Hm, this sounds vaguely familiar. Is it nature or is it nurture?

I vote for both!

Answer 9

both, and no