Pleasant greetings to you all. Hope today went great.
The world is filled with several billion people who go about their daily lives and activities. When you come across some people, you literally feel drawn to them. You don't want to leave their space. Then there are some other people whom you can't stand being around them for even five minutes. What's the difference? I believe it is in their traits acquired and developed over time.
Now to the prompt...
”Do you think people are innately good or bad? What do you think influences a person's behaviour? Do you think people could change after years of being good or bad? What do you think would trigger that change?”
Firstly, innate traits are inborn and genetically oriented. What this means is that if parents spent their lives being bad and doing bad things, then they would for sure reproduce after their kind. Naturally, when we are born, we are born innately good. This is one reason why we all love babies. They look so cute, dependent and helpless.
Moreso, babies are born with an empty slate of mind. It now behooves on the parents to fill up that mind with good or bad based on their parenting styles and patterns. So to answer the first part of the prompt, I feel that people can be either depending on certain factors but most especially on their predecessors.
There are multiple factors that influence a person's behaviour but I'd like to focus on these three factors….
#1. Family background
It is said that the family is a primary agent of socialization, hence the proverb ”charity begins at home”. A person's behaviour gets shaped by the influence of family background. I was opportuned to watch an interview online about a man who had been called out on social media as a wife beater. Remorsefully, he confessed that he saw his father beat his mum daily and his mum still stayed with his dad. So to him, beating women up was a sign of love.
That man's behaviour had been shaped by his family background where he was taught that violence was akin to love. Unfortunately, he bore the brunt of his actions as he was sued for physical assault.
#2. Culture
This is another powerful factor that can shape a person's behaviour. It is almost on par with family background. When a family lives in a destructive cultural setting, it tends to imprint on the people and they get stuck in their ways. An example is in a cultural setting where polygamy is approved and accepted. Any female who refuses to comply with this would be seen as an outcast.
#3. Association
The kind of people that we interact with consistently on a daily basis can shape how we behave. If you mingle with lazy people all day everyday, then you'll be influenced into becoming lazy. No wonder it is said that show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are. The level of influence that our association carry is enormous and should not be downplayed
As we go through life, things happen to us that could change our innate nature for good or bad. A person with bad behaviour can change to become good and vice versa afterall, change is a constant phenomenon of life. It takes a person with a strong foundation to maintain constancy of behaviour and character.
Some factors that I think can change a person could be exposure levels, past experiences of repeated hurt, a chance encounter with someone good e.t.c.
These factors can possibly change a person. Take an illustration from the movie Maleficent played by Angelina Jolie. See was a kind and good fairy but one betrayal turned her into monstrous but as life progressed, her innate goodness came out when she began to care for the very child that she had cursed. A person might be good but after a long time of hurt, such a person can change to become bad. They only need to encounter one good person who is reliable and trustworthy and their innate goodness will emerge again.
Thank you all for reading.
Image used is mine.