Practical Coach: Management Skills for Everyday Life, The

The Self-Concept: I Think, Therefore I Think I Am

Researchers agree that individuals differ from each other in many ways, including (but not limited to) worldview, skills and abilities, learning styles, problem-solving styles, and interpersonal styles. Researchers disagree, however, about the degree to which these personality differences are created by nature or nurture. There is compelling and controversial evidence that certain characteristics such as tendencies toward introversion and extroversion, risk-seeking and risk aversion, optimism and pessimism, and vulnerability to anxiety may be shaped, in part, by our genetic programming.

Yet despite evidence that some tendencies may be inherited, researchers agree that our genes are not our destiny. ...