I am a huge football fan! When the topic of nurture vs. nature comes up, I always think about the Mannings. Archie Manning was a quarterback in the NFL for 14 years. Two of his sons, Peyton and Eli Manning, are NFL quarterbacks.
Were Peyton and Eli Manning born to be quarterbacks in the NFL?
Would they be quarterbacks in the NFL if their dad was a construction worker who hated football?
I believe that the Manning family is the perfect example of how nature and nurture work together in creating a person's social construction.
The DNA that Archie passed down to his children gave them the "quarterback build" and athletic genes. Archie Manning is 6 ft 3 in and 212 lb. He passed this "quarterback build" down to his sons. Eli Manning is 6 ft 4 in and 218 lb, and Peyton Manning is 6 ft 5 in and 230 lb. Studies have shown that genes play a large role in athletic abilities. The Manning boys inherited athletic genes and the physical build of an NFL quarterback from their father. The DNA that Eli and Peyton Manning received from their father gave them the "nature" to be superstar quarterbacks.
http://www.academia.edu/667847/Genes_Environment_and_Sport_Performance_why_the_nature-nurture_dualism_is_no_longer_relevant
Archie Manning, one of the best NFL quarterbacks, was an agent of socialization for his sons. Archie influenced his sons behaviors, attitudes, self-concepts, and values. Eli and Peyton Manning grew up in a household centered around the game of football. The influence from the people around them helped form Eli and Peyton's desire to play football. The boys had an NFL MVP quarterback to teach them how to throw a football. Can you imagine playing catch on a Saturday afternoon with Archie Manning? The Manning brothers had all the opportunities in the world to enhance their quarterback skills. Archie raised his children in an environment submerged in football. The nurture Eli and Peyton Manning received growing up gave them goals of becoming NFL quarterbacks, along with the resources needed.
The potent mix of nurture and nature allowed Eli and Peyton Manning to carry on the legacy of their father Archie Manning!
I think this is a wellwritten post. Do you think that there could have been other influences besides Peyton manning's influence that made them become interested in football? How do you think you become so passionate about football? Was it because your parents watched it or was it because of other factors? If so, what factors? It might be nice to add a little about your own personal experience of how you became a avid football watcher. This would be another way to show the nature versus nurture concept.
ReplyDeleteWell done. It would have been interesting to hear your thoughts regarding, e.g., What if his sons had been adopted at birth by a couch potato construction worker? What if his sons had had a slightly different build, but were still raised in his family.
ReplyDeleteI think you're spot on with the the "mix approach," though, as a sociologist, I would still put greater emphasis on the nurture. There are just so many examples where the environment we grow up in, the opportunities we're given appear to trump everything else - and, by comparison, far fewer examples of physiology trumping what we experience in our lives.
Good work!
Very nice post, it was very clear and thoughtful, and I really enjoyed reading it. I think you focused a little bit more on the nature aspects of the family instead of the nurture ones though.
ReplyDelete