Is a child who grows up in an adoptive parent's home more like the adoptive parents in their actions and thought processes or more like their biological parents?
I think adopted children are like both thier adoptive parents and their birth parents. Of course the adopted child will pick up habbits from their adoptive parents but some habbits are hereditary. I think traits like temper and height come from your birth parents. If your birth parents are tall and your adoptive parents are short, you aren't going to be short because your adoptive parents are. You might not necesssarrily be tall either because you may inherit the short gene from one of your birth parents. In certain things you will probably act more like your adoptive parents because of the ways they raised you.
Adopted children tend to pick up habits and actions from their adopted parents, like most children who are with their natural parents. Young children pick up speech patterns and the way they do certain things from people who they spend the most time around, whether they be their natural parents or one of their best friends. If you're around someone enough, you begin to pick up some of their ways. However, genetic traits, such as anger, can't really be picked up. If your adoptive child has genetically inherited a bad temper from her natural parents then it is very likely that the child will have a bad temper reguardless of how calm and mild-tempered her adoptive parents are. Another example is alcoholism, a genetically inherited trait. If the adopted child's mother was an alcoholic then it is likely that she passed the trait down to the child. If the child is adopted into a family who doesn't drink at all, but at some time is exposed to drinking, it is extremely likely the child will become an alcoholic as well. So, in my opinion, the adopted child will be like both their adoptive parents as well as their natural parents.
by Erica (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:01 AM
Is a child who grows up in an adoptive parent's home more like the adoptive parents in their actions and thought processes or more like their biological parents?
Take into account the differences in the tempers of two children raised in the same home. One is well-behaved, a good student, and less likely to fly off the handle when upset even though she does not have a lot of patience. The younger child is opposite, and more likely to become violent and abusive when upset. Both have inherited traits from their father that lean towards a lack of patience, and short-temper, but one inherited a more extreme version of it. Both were raised the exact same way, and neither were adopted. I believe a lot of the way you act comes from the genes you inherited. A child whose father had a tendency to be aggressive when angry will give the same to his children. If they are raised the same then it is only the mixed combination of both parents' tempers that keeps the children from both being violent. Adopted children will have the tendency to act like their genes are coded. Their new environment would serve to stiffle some of the personality, but it won't be entirely altered. A child who's mother was an Asian gangsta (lol) with a tendency for cutting people without trying to talk it out first, would still have the aggression inside and should the situation arise, chances are the child wouldn't have much patience in other aspects of their life. Perhaps Asian gangsta baby has been transplanted into Caucasian perfect suburb, where the kids ride bikes, and everybody's so happy. Caucasian adoptive mother of Asian gangsta baby never raises her voice and they never spanked Asian gangsta baby. Still should someone steal the kid's bike, I don't think the adopted kid would just let them do it. Because of the inherited lack of patience, gangsta Asian baby wouldn't try to talk it out. The kid would kick butt and get their bike back. To summarize, I think you can stiffle some aspects of personality based on where you are, but you'll always have the tendencies inherited through genetics. That was kinda funny. I like my story. Go Asian gangsta kid!
Some people say that children devlop the way they act by how they were raised. I do feel that most adoptive children tend to be more like their adoptive parents if raised right. If the adoptive parents spend time and really try to raise their adoptive child I feel the child will turn out like them. Children will follow by exapmle and if they are with their adoptive parents most or all of their childhood they will act as they do. There are some ways and actions that will come out that shows they will be similar to their birth parents. In some way they will have some action or trait that reflects their birth parents. But in the majority I feel that adoptive children will be more like their adoptive parents. Also age plays a role so depending on how much time they spent with their birth parents or if they were put through many foster homes before adoption they may not be as much like their adoptive parents as a child that was adopted at birth.
by Brooke (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:03 AM
Traits and characteristics can be inherited from the biological parents. So the child that was adopted may act a certain way or have characteristics from the biological parent. The adopted child, after adapting to life with the adoptive parents, may act like the adoptive parents or just do things that the adoptive parents would ordinarily do, because the child has then adapted to the enviornment with the adoptive parents. So I think that the child could be like their adoptive parents and their biological parents. Some traits or behaviors that they have can come from their biological parents, because of heredity, but they can also act liek their adoptive parents through adaptation.
by De De (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:03 AM
I think a child who grows up in an adoptive parents home is more like the adoptive parent in their actions and thought processes because that is what they are exposed to. They are more likly to pick up on things that their adoptive parents do becuase they spend most or all of their time with them. The child still might have some tendoncys of their biological parents but they wont show as much because the child is not infulenced by their birth parents as much because they were never or were for a short period of time under the care of them. Children learn from imitation, they will do what they see, so living with adoptive parents they will do and behave the way the see their adoptive parents doing so.
by Sarah08 (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:06 AM
Children that grow up in adoptive homes tend to hold the ideals of their adoptive parents but personalities of their biological parents. I can base this on my own observations. My mother was adopted when she was a small infant. This summer my family and I went to West Virginia to meet her dad for the first time. Obviously I've known my mom all of my life. She didn't. She met her mom when she was about 30 so she had no prior contact with her that would promote certain actions. I've never met her adoptive parents. They died before I was born. What I did notice about my mom and her real dad is that they both say some of the same things in the same way. They both have the same 'mad look'. Also both are quiet, innocent talkers that will talk your ears off if they get the chance. My mom did take alot of things from her adoptive parents though. Her means of raising children, her occupation, and her religious and family beliefs are very much like what her parents had with her when she was a child. So, based on this I can say that adopted children keep the biological things such as temper, personality, and thought processes that are truely embedded into their genes. Things such as job preferance, religious choice, way they handle household things, financial decisions, holidays and things of that nature are created through the environment they grew up in. For example my mother's adoptive mother was a nurse who grew up and lived her whole life in Kinston. Her bilological mom sews and travels all over the world.My mom hates to travel and can't sew to save her life. She is a nurse though. This shows that what my mom was brought up in stuck rather than the habits of her biological relatives.
by AshKing (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:06 AM
Nature versus nurture concerns the relative importance of an individuals inborn qualities versus personal experience dealing with physical and behavioral traits. The debate between the two has been argued for what seems like forever, yet no conclusion has ever been made. I believe that physical traits such as eye color and hair color are determined by genes that are passed from parent to child. The behavioral traits of a person though, originate from the environment he/she is exposed to and their upbringing as a child. While a gene does increase the likelihood of a person acting a certain way, genes can't force a person to do something. I believe that children who are adopted will, over time, begin to adapt to the ways of their adoption parents more than their birth parents. They are more likely to act the same as their background and what they have been exposed to by their adoption parents rather than they life that their birth parents lived.
by Garrett (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:07 AM
I believe that a child who is brought up with his/her adoptive parents vs. their biological parents will be more like their adoptive ones in their thought processes and actions. I think that in nature vs. nurture, the nurture part will over rule. Like most young kids, babies pick up things from the people that they spend more of their time around. For example if a child whose biological parents has a bad temper or gets angry really easily, is brought up with his/her adoptive parents who are really laid back and easy going, i believe that the child will take the adoptive parents actions. If the adoptive parents will not put up with a bad attitude or angry temper then the child will learn not to lose its temper even if it is common in their genes. I do strongly believe that a child's actions are based mostly on their adoptive parents but i think that the thought processes of a child are somewhat based on their biological parents. Like how intelligent a child is i believe is based on their biological parents because intelligence is partly what you are born with.
by kcole11 (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:07 AM
I think that when a child inherits certain behaviors from his/her biological parents but these characteristics are stimulated or die down depending on the environment they are raised in. A child who is adopted by a gay or lesbian couple will naturally not think anything is wrong with same sex attraction, even though the parents might actually strongly disapprove in it. The way of thinking on what is right or wrong I think is strongly influenced by the environment you are raised in but some typical characteristics of your nature, like if you have a temper or if you are a good people person or maybe if you are shy, depends on genes inherited by your biological parents.
by kennedy (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:08 AM
A baby learns his first words not because of what is in their genes, but by listening to its environment and the people around them. This is a prime example that environment is more responsible for a childs behavior than genetics. Just like my values and beliefs are different from the person sitting next to me. I got those from my parents. My understanding of what is right and wrong is based on what my parents have taught me. We discussed in class, that you can get certain traits from your parents. Like your attitude or your temper. But, how were these studied? Just based out of keeping a child in it's biological home? Then yes, they would still act like their parents. I believe that your actions and thought processes are based on what your parents have taught you. Even if they are not your biological parents. The lifestyle that you live makes you how you are. Kay-Lah ♥
by kaylamelvin (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:08 AM
I believe the adoptive parents have more of an effect on the childs behavior. The biological differences are there like- how much you talk and how social you are, thins like temper would also be present. These things can be effected however by the environment. I know that if I was adopted the way I was raised would have changed me even if I had the same biological parents. Parents you live with provide you with ethics and cmany of your tendencies. I think these adoptive parents are a much stronger influence then biological parents. I mean you have lived with them your whole life they should have a great influence on you. Even if your biological parents were anitsocial, and your adoptive parents were social i think you could develop some sort of social comfort somewhere in the middle.
by Emrod (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:08 AM
Many people beleieve that a person's behavior is hard wired into his or her genetic codes. A good way to study this is by looking at and monitoring an adopted child. Things such as tempers, emotions and patients, are well obsevrved in an adopted child. Many people that have adopted children say that they lose their home, life, and intergrity due to the nature of the child. People like that believe that the biological parents of the child are to blame because they passed the undesirable traits along to their offsping. Sometimes the behavior is so bad the the adoptive parents take the child back, or at least frequently think about it. However, I do not believe that a person's genetic material is entirely responsible for that person's behavior. There are ways to handle and treat children that shows how a person should act. While their is no way to change a person's attitude, their are ways to work with it. For instance in a family with a horrible, uncontrollable temper gives their new born baby up for adoption, and it is adopted by a family that shows patiance as well as understanding, there is absolutely no reason while the child should grow up with an uncontrollable temper. By being surrounded by people that show patiance, he will pick up on what his surroundings are containing. In doing this, he will learn methods that controll his temper because as a child one learns through trial and error as well as observation. A similar example is that an adoptive child could have a laid back biological family. But when placed in an uptight damily, the child will begin to be uptight also because he will know nothing other than stress. It is all that he or she will be exposed to.Also parenting methods play a key role. A family tends to continue partenting methods in an eunending cycle. Your mother treats you the way her mother treated her and it will probablybe the way you treat your child. In doing this there could be too little punishment or there could even be to much. Though this, undesirable traits can and will arise. If this is continued, and basically the whole family acts the same way, but one child is given up for adoption, parenting methods used on that child will be changed, anbd in return the cycle will be broken. When you are a very young child, you have not yet discovered yourself, your attitudes, or your even your thought process. You learn theese things as you grow. That is why I believe that if a child is placed in an adoptive home at a young age, he or she will grow to be more like his adoptive parents rather than his or her biological parents due to adaptation. While they will still have moments similar to moments that a biological parent who distribute, they wuill use methods taught by their adoptive parents in order to cope, which will also cause them to be more like their adoptive parents.
by Teri (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:08 AM
An adoptive child is more like the adoptive parents in their actions and thought processes instead of being like their biological parents. The biological parents may give the child it's genes and other biological information, but it is the adoptive parents who are the ones who teach the child to behave and act. Since the adoptive parents are the ones who interact with the child everyday the child picks up their habits and behavior. The child never spends time with their biological parent so he or she never has a chance to pick up any of their habits and behavior. Some behaviors of the child are linked to the biological parent. An example is temper. An adoptive parent has no say so on how the child's temper will be. The child gets this from their biological parents. So the childs behavior is affected by both sets of parents. The biological parents and the adoptive parents. The biological parents give the child their traits and attitude while the adoptive parents affect the way the child acts in certain situations.
by CameronH (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:09 AM
I think that a child who grows up in an adoptive parents home is more likely to act like their adoptive parents if they are adopted at a young age and watch the adoptive parents ways and how they do things. I think the child will still show some characteristics of their biological parents because there are characteristics that are genetic. These inherited traits include traits like temper and alcoholism. The child will usually act toward their adoptive parents instincts because of what they were brought up to be.
by MaryKatheryn (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:09 AM
i think that the child would be more like the adoptive parents than the biological parents. The child is influenced by people that are in the childs environment. i think the birth parents will have some affect on the child depending on how long the birth parents had the child. Depending on who had the child duping the development stage of the child will affect the behavior.
In Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiment he tested aggression and how it influences children. In this experiment, he had children witness a model aggressively attacking a plastic clown called the Bobo doll. There children would watch a video where a model would aggressively hit a doll and " ‘...the model pummels it on the head with a mallet, hurls it down, sits on it and punches it on the nose repeatedly, kick it across the room, flings it in the air, and bombards it with balls... After the video, the children were placed in a room with attractive toys, but they could not touch them. The process of retention had occurred. Therefore, the children became angry and frustrated. Then the children were led to another room where there were identical toys used in the Bobo video. The motivation phase was in occurrence. Bandura and many other researchers founded that 88% of the children imitated the aggressive behavior. Eight months later, 40% of the same children reproduce the violent behavior observed in the Bobo doll experiment. (Isom, 1998)
this shows how children are influenced by behavior. So i believe that children are influenced more than by the adoptive parents than the biological parents.
by Rebecca (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:12 AM
The nature vs. nurture debate has raged on forever with no real, concrete solution. While some feel genetics predetermine our actions and dispositions, others feel that environment is the determining factor, creating our own, unique personalities. I personally think that environment is the true shaper of our dispositions and that a adopted child would be much more similar to its adoptive parents. While genetics completely determines one's physical appearance and also plays a small role in a person's personality traits and actions, environment is what truly determine exactly how a person will act. This is due to the fact that human's are independently minded, and are able to develop their own unique personalities, not restricted to the pattern of some genes on a chromosome (chromosomes do not control a person). The child, unaware of anything from the biological parents or land, would be completely exposed to this new life with its adoptive parents, exposed to the morals, attitudes, and personalities present. He would be influenced by his surroundings, and would be completely emmersed in the ways of this land. So in no way could he ignore the attitudes of the people around him;he would certainly adopt the same morals and disposition (either extreme). For instance, if this child were to be in a home where everyone was completely laid-back, relaxed and calm, the child would at least partly adopt this nonchalant attitude, because it would be the only thing he would have been exposed to. He would not be completely different, ignoring the ways of his adoptive parents, simply due to his genetics. Humans are not bound to their DNA, they are independent thinkers, and, coincidentally, are easily influenced. A child will adopt the ways and attitudes of its environment, thinking for itself, but still conforming to its surroundings. Environment is the true factor that molds one's disposition...genes cannot force a person to do anything-we have control over ourselves.
by TGREGS (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:13 AM
In my professional opinion, I believe that a child's physical traits come from the biological parents but their behavorial traits come from the people they were raised with. If a kid is born by two atheist parents but is then put into adoption and is adopted by a christian family then as that child grows up he/she will also become a christian and will follow in their foster parents footsteps. Certain features are passed down biologically to children from their biological parents, like alcoholism. Alcoholism is hereditary but if a child is born by two alcoholics and is adopted by a christian family that has never touched alochol then that child will grow up like their parents, alcohol free. Not all traits passed down through heredity must be carried out and not all kids end up just like their parents. With the right guidance and supervision kids born by terrible parents can turn out perfectly fine.
by Lucian (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:14 AM
I think that the child would show the behavior of the adopted parents because it would only be exposed to the adopted parents behaviors and not know the behavior of the natural parents. This would only work if the child was adopted as a baby if the child was adopted around age six or seven it might show behavioral Characteristics of both adopted and natural parents and if the child was adopted around the age of fourteen the child would most likely show behavioral Characteristics of the natural parents.
by Zachary (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:15 AM
Adopted children are more likely exhibit behavior similar to their biological parents rather than their adopted parents. An experiment done in Rhesus Macaque Monkeys showed that even when infants were taken away from their birth mothers and raised by other birth mothers still acted like their biological mothers. For example, researchers found that children that used slaps and bites to get what they wanted had parents that used the same behavior. Researchers also found that these offspring had practically no similarity to their adoptive parents. Although I think children (especially those adopted at a young age) can pick up part of their attitudes and behavior patterns from their adopted parents, I think the backbone of one's attitude come from your biological parents.
by Jessie (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:15 AM
Adopted children will certainly always pick up some characteristics from their adoptive parents just as any other child would do. The difference is that biological inheritnace seems to be more dominant in influenceing a person's personality and actions. A study was done with monkeys to determine their behavioral status with "foster" mothers. The monkeys often displayed exact behaviors of their biological parents.
by Mitch (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:19 AM
I do not believe that genetic traits have as large an impact on behavioral development as some people would propose. I believe that the true mold of character comes from environment and personal choice. I am an adopted child. My mother married a man who was not a Latter Day Saint when she was eighteen. She went through a period of low self-esteem when she was a teenager, and made poor choices during a downward spiral. My biological father was an alcoholic, a drug-addict, given to immoral behaviors, and many more vices. He intended to raise me up in a similar fashion. He even suggested to my mother that he would punish me if I did not develop a void personality quickly enough. However, I was spared by his insatiable appetites, which led him away from my mother. My mother eventually married a Latter Day Saint man who was much closer to the ideal "good citizen." Although he is not perfect he and my mother have raised me in a very different manner than was intended for me previously. Perhaps my genes would not have allowed me to become a dark person. I think environment was the difference though. I leave that for others to judge.
by Rome, Italy (PM , CC ) on Monday February 26, 2007 @ 11:20 AM
I believe that an adopted child is more like their adopted parents in some aspects but also carries traits from their birth parents. Lets say that the birth parents are tall, alcoholics who have a problem controlling their tempers but the adopted parents are short, kind people who only drink on occasion. You are more likely to have a child who is tall and has a temper problem because those traits are passed on your gene code. It is likely that if the child is never exposed to alcohol, they will never become an alcoholic but if they are exposed to just one drink it is more likely that the child will become an alcoholic because that trait was also passed on the gene code. Ok lets now say that those adopted parents are those type that carry their work home with them and show that to be successful you must work outside school or your office and they are very responsible people who like to help out in the community but the birth parents never worked except at work and didn't care about helping anyone but themselves. The child would probably have better study habits and like to help out their communities because that is what they were raised watching their adopted parents do. To summarize, I believe that alot of the habit forming traits and most behaviorial traits come from the adoptive parents but all physical traits and some behavorial traits come from the birth parents.
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Take into account the differences in the tempers of two children raised in the same home. One is well-behaved, a good student, and less likely to fly off the handle when upset even though she does not have a lot of patience. The younger child is opposite, and more likely to become violent and abusive when upset. Both have inherited traits from their father that lean towards a lack of patience, and short-temper, but one inherited a more extreme version of it. Both were raised the exact same way, and neither were adopted. I believe a lot of the way you act comes from the genes you inherited. A child whose father had a tendency to be aggressive when angry will give the same to his children. If they are raised the same then it is only the mixed combination of both parents' tempers that keeps the children from both being violent. Adopted children will have the tendency to act like their genes are coded. Their new environment would serve to stiffle some of the personality, but it won't be entirely altered. A child who's mother was an Asian gangsta (lol)
To summarize, I think you can stiffle some aspects of personality based on where you are, but you'll always have the tendencies inherited through genetics.
That was kinda funny. I like my story. Go Asian gangsta kid!
I think a child who grows up in an adoptive parents home is more like the adoptive parent in their actions and thought processes because that is what they are exposed to. They are more likly to pick up on things that their adoptive parents do becuase they spend most or all of their time with them. The child still might have some tendoncys of their biological parents but they wont show as much because the child is not infulenced by their birth parents as much because they were never or were for a short period of time under the care of them. Children learn from imitation, they will do what they see, so living with adoptive parents they will do and behave the way the see their adoptive parents doing so.
We discussed in class, that you can get certain traits from your parents. Like your attitude or your temper. But, how were these studied? Just based out of keeping a child in it's biological home? Then yes, they would still act like their parents.
I believe that your actions and thought processes are based on what your parents have taught you. Even if they are not your biological parents. The lifestyle that you live makes you how you are.
Kay-Lah ♥
In Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiment he tested aggression and how it influences children. In this experiment, he had children witness a model aggressively attacking a plastic clown called the Bobo doll. There children would watch a video where a model would aggressively hit a doll and " ‘...the model pummels it on the head with a mallet, hurls it down, sits on it and punches it on the nose repeatedly, kick it across the room, flings it in the air, and bombards it with balls... After the video, the children were placed in a room with attractive toys, but they could not touch them. The process of retention had occurred. Therefore, the children became angry and frustrated. Then the children were led to another room where there were identical toys used in the Bobo video. The motivation phase was in occurrence. Bandura and many other researchers founded that 88% of the children imitated the aggressive behavior. Eight months later, 40% of the same children reproduce the violent behavior observed in the Bobo doll experiment. (Isom, 1998)
this shows how children are influenced by behavior. So i believe that children are influenced more than by the adoptive parents than the biological parents.
Although I think children (especially those adopted at a young age) can pick up part of their attitudes and behavior patterns from their adopted parents, I think the backbone of one's attitude come from your biological parents.
hmmmm