Do Parents Matter?
by Gian Gonzaga | August 10th, 2007In 1998 Judith Rich Harris wrote The Nurture Assumption which made a very simple argument. When it comes to how kids develop parents matter less and peers matter more. The response to the book was overwhelming and Harris was largely vilified for her position. Even though I think she overplayed her argument (for two very specific reasons) I was sad to see it happen. Why do I disagree with her? First, I think she paid too little attention to research on attachment, which I believe shows profound, if not large, effects of parents on their children. For example, attachment affects how grown children interact with their own children. It also influences the likelihood of someone displaying a dissociative disorder in adulthood. Second, Harris emphasized the behavioral genetics literature and I think recent advance in genetics have shed new light on how parents can influence their children and set up the way they regulate their social relationships for a lifetime that are more complex than the field of behavioral genetics originally anticipated.
Although I don’t agree with her position I enjoyed the prospect of seeing an engaging discussion about the relative influence of peers and parents on an individual’s development. I also believe that she highlighted some important issues about how we should think of environment. Moreover Harris brought up an important point, the environment that children are raised in is comprised of more than just parents. We are all influenced by the rest of our family, our peers, our neighborhood, our country, our culture, and our world. And I agree that in America we emphasize the influence of parents too much and the influence of the rest of the environment too little. I was also impressed with her respect for basic science, the fact that she based all of her findings on research, and her deep understanding of the advantages and limits of the research. Unfortunately, not everyone represents science this well and too often people make bold claims without carefully weighing the evidence.
Harris just published a new book called No Two Alike. I may not agree with her basic hypothesis (I haven’t read the book yet so I can’t be sure). However, I look forward to seeing how her theory and her evidence have matured over the years.
For a piece on the book by Harris see
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article2222614.ece
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August 24th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Re: “Do Parent’s Matter?”
Although there i’s rea’s’on to not tru’st the letter “S” around other letter’s, one s’hould not carry thi’s di’s’tru’s’t to the extreme by s’eparating other letter’s, de’spite the recommendation of the s’idewalk green-grocer.
Apo’strophe’s are to indicate po’s’s’e’s’s’ion and contraction, not s’eperate the letter “S” from other letter’s.
By the by, if you were trying to indicate the plural form of “parent,” might I s’uggest “parents”….