Exploring Biological and Social Influences During Development

This essay delves into the critical biological and social influences that shape an individual's development, with a specific focus on the adolescent period. It begins by defining these influences, differentiating between biological factors like genetics and neurological processes, and social factors such as peer pressure and environmental conditions. The essay then explores the developmental stages, highlighting the significance of adolescence as a period of significant physical, psychological, and social changes. It examines how biological factors, including hormonal changes and brain development, interact with social factors like peer influence and socioeconomic status to impact behavior, choices, and overall well-being. The analysis emphasizes the importance of understanding these influences for promoting positive development and navigating the complexities of modern society. The essay concludes by summarizing the similarities and differences between biological and social influences and stresses the need for positive internal and external reinforcements during adolescence. The paper also highlights the importance of positive brain development and ethical behavior within society.

BIOLOGICAL AND
SOCIAL INFLUENCES
DURING
DEVELOPMENTAL
PERIOD

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Developmental Stages............................................................................................................1
Biological and Social Influences............................................................................................1
Importance in Adolescence Stage..........................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Biological and social influences refer to the impact which different perspectives and
elements have upon the developmental stage of an individual. Furthermore, these influences are
also very crucial and important to be understood as it helps in understanding the Nature vs.
Nurture debate in a better manner (Seiffge-Krenke, 2019). Hence, in relation to this, the essay
below is based on importance of biological and social influences upon the adolescence
development period. It covers a detailed analysis of these perspectives, the development period,
essential application of these influences over this stage, as well as seeing their impact in
understanding the modern society.
MAIN BODY
Developmental Stages
Erik Erikson gave a theory of several developmental stages of an individual back in the
day, which segregated the whole life of an individual into various eight stages right from their
pre-natal stages till their late adulthood. All these stages are important to be looked into,
researched and analysed as they help in development of a prominent and accurate perception
about the major influences which govern a person’s life during different stages. Moreover,
within social sciences, this approach is very important and imperative to be understood in terms
of determining different life stages, mindsets of individuals and dominance of several influences
which controls the behaviour of individuals in these stages.
However, it is imperative to analyse a prominent stage out of this framework which could
clearly and effectively showcase the difference between how different influential factors have an
impact on the development stage. Therefore, to accomplish this agenda, Adolescence
Development Stage is being used. The reason for the same is that during this developmental
phase, individuals experience severe changes in both their social and physical environment and
hence, this could be one of the most prominent essentials towards determining the influences of
different factors (Kilford, Garrett and Blakemore, 2016).
Biological and Social Influences
A behaviour, choices, actions, as well as lifestyles are governed and are impacted through
various factors which are very much essential to be understood in order to understand the
magnitude of impact which they exert upon an individual during a specific life stage. Moreover,
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the development phases and their effectiveness towards a positive and desirable mindset also
depend upon these influences. Therefore, a thorough research and understanding of the
application of different influences before its application upon the adolescence developmental
stage is very crucial to be undertaken (Large and et. al., 2019).
One of the major influences that have a very deep and detailed impact upon an individual
is Biological Influence. There are certain factors within the biological aspect that have very
much influence over an individual. For instance, one prominent factor towards determining a
particular behaviour is Genetics. These are the biological elements which are inherited by an
individual from their parents. These could be highly influential in determining a range of
behaviour, such as likelihood of being short tempered or being an introvert. Along with this, it
could also be associated with controlling of various habits, such as liking a certain food item or
not preferring to wear a certain type of clothes. Genetics are very strong determinants over
behaviour and mindset of an individual. Another example of the same could be specific
behaviour such as aggression. For example, if a single parent or both the parents of an individual
are very aggressive in nature and are inclined towards a massive psychological outburst, then
that behaviour or mindset is likely to influence and is carried forward in the offspring of these
individuals as well. On the other hand, if parents of an individual have always been caring
towards other individuals and animals as well, then a positive behaviour of the child would be
inherited biologically (Dahl and et. al., 2018).
Another factor within the biological influence could be the nervous system and mind frame
of an individual. There might be times where there are several behaviour and decisions which
could be unexpectedly taken by individuals due to having limited control on their brain cells, as
could be seen in various cases of individuals who suffer from mental diseases or impairments
since their birth, which governs their behaviour and decisions almost all their lives.
Another type of influence which has a very severe impact upon the lifestyle, actions and
decisions of an individual is Social Influence. The factors which are covered under these are the
ones which are related to the social environment of a person and have a very diverse inclusion of
several elements. For instance, one prominent example which could be applied towards
understanding how social influence works is associated with Peer Pressure. The individual grows
in an environment where their respective parents and society expects them to follow certain
norms and they even pressurise the people towards behaving in a specific type of way as well as
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follow certain religious or cultural practices despite the refusals. There are various cultures Asia,
as well as Africa which pressurise individuals towards following certain practices associated
with their religious beliefs (Graber, Brooks-Gunn and Petersen, 2018).
Another very prominent example of the same is socialising. People start socialising after
they are admitted to schools where they meet new individuals and starts to be affected and
influenced by lifestyles and habits of others. Moreover, after a certain level of clarity within
mindset is achieved, then children, as well as others tend to copy certain behaviour and actions
which is a reflection of their social observations. As an instance, smoking and drinking alcohol
are very crucial examples of social influence which leads an individual towards adoption of these
activities despite being taught about the negative impacts which these substances could have on
their bodies.
In addition to this, a wider social environment has also a very important and crucial
influence over individuals. For example, media comes into play in manipulating individuals
throughout events such as elections, where they create several campaigns in favour of a political
group while the others are shown negatively throughout the same in order to influence the
individuals towards working in a certain manner. As for other groups such as teenagers or
children, social media also influences the kind of lifestyle choices these individuals would make.
The reason for the same is because within enhanced digitalisation and connectivity, people tend
to update their lifestyles of applications and portals such as Facebook and Instagram, which
influences a lot of people into adopting the same kind of behaviour and lifestyle. Moreover, if a
person could not possibly transit their lifestyles like the ones they seek, this negatively drives
their behaviour into being more aggressive and impulsive (Doyle and et. al., 2015).
Therefore, the above research and analysis appropriately showcases the two main and most
crucial influences within a person’s life which impacts a person their whole lives. However, it is
highly imperative to apply these essential concepts to several social situations within the
Adolescence Developmental Stage. This would also be reflecting the importance of both these
influential factors during this period.
Importance in Adolescence Stage
Adolescence Developmental Period is the one where an individual experience a lot of
changes physically, due to growth of various hormones, as well as within their social
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environment. However, there are various different impacts which a person experiences from
different biological and social influences (Kuhn, 2015).
In context of biological influences first, there are several physical changes which takes
place during this developmental phase, as puberty paves a passage towards transition of a person
from childhood to adolescence. The major changes that must be taken into account are the
secondary sexual characteristics, growth spurt, fertility, as well as psychological changes in
terms of mindsets. While the other elements have a very evidently researched influence over
individuals, one of the most newly researched area of influence in this developmental period is
related to brain development. The importance of this element in influencing individuals during
adolescence is that due to consistent growth of brain in this time period through support cells
proliferation, nourishing of neurons, as well as myelination, which facilitates processing of
neurons, this biologically stimulates cognitive development and growth, which enhances abstract
reasoning capacity. Therefore, this is one crucial pointer which highlights the importance of
biological influences in Adolescence Developmental Period.
Another very crucial example which supports the importance of biological influences in
this developmental phase is that the maturation and transition of a person towards puberty also
affects their psychological health. There have been several researches in the past that have
derived the results of females who have early pubertal maturation sometimes experience
depression as the psychosocial difference gets too complex to be explained. Therefore, its
influence over their lifestyles and negative behaviour could easily be understood through this
factor. Therefore, biological elements have a very crucial and evidence influence over an
individual during Adolescence Developmental Period which highlights its importance in an
appropriate manner (Welborn and et. al., 2016).
In relation to the social influence in this phase, there are various evidence and effective
factors which must be taken into account as there is a very high evidence of these aspects to be
very influential for individuals who are undergoing the transition within this stage. These factors
have emerged from the everyday lives, as well as the overall social environment in which a
person has spent their childhood and this transition.
Youth development is a term which starts right from the very beginning of puberty, which
is seen to be heavily influenced by the social environment. Even so, that it is quite evident that
effective persuasions could surpass the biological influences as well. This could however happen
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in both positive and negative way. Starting from the latter, social environment, such as
socioeconomic conditions of a person might negatively impact their adolescence. For example,
decline in economic position or security of an adolescent belonging to a poor household might
create a negative perception towards society or maybe the ways of earning a living. This may
then influence the developmental phase in a manner that is inclined towards negative means of
earning and supporting one’s economically degraded condition. On the contrary, if the social
practices of one’s support positive contributions towards societies, such as feeding the poor or
arranging supplies for the depraved might positively transit an individual and develop a positive
mindset toward society in Adolescence Developmental Period (Berenbaum, Beltz and Corley,
2015).
In addition, as the example of social influence and bad habits mentioned above could also
be used towards explaining the importance of social influences over this developmental phase.
While the peers, as well as social environment plays a very significant and effective role towards
developing habits and frame of mind of individuals, sometimes negative influences could easily
be understood by individuals during this phase. The reason of the same is usually curiosity which
leads people towards developing these habits eventually.
Therefore, the above research and analysis enhances the importance of both social and
biological influences within Adolescence Developmental Period. However, there are various
differences and similarities within the same. For example, while biological influences could be
inherited and are strictly based on the development of physical characteristics of a person, social
influences undertake external reinforcements, persuasions and overall social environment which
have a very deep impact over the lifestyle, thinking and choices of an individual. However, there
are various similarities as well. For example, considering the above example of habits, while
social influences encourage individuals over adopting this habit, the same could be done
biologically as well, considering one’s parent being an alcoholic, which could be a trait inherited
by that person. Therefore, while both these influences are important in this developmental stage,
it is very necessary that positive internal and external reinforcements are implemented which
would be making the positive brain development, along with desirable inclination of mindset
towards ethics and appropriate behavioural conduct within the society (Foulkes and Blakemore,
2018).
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CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded from the essay above that it is very important to understand the
importance of biological and social influences over an individual within Adolescence
Developmental Period. It is important that a brief overview of Erikson’s stages is analysed and
evaluated which would allow in choosing a prominent developmental stage which could be
analysed against these influences. Therefore, it is also very crucial that positive and negative
influence of both these elements, along with the magnitude of their impact must be determined
over a person through applying these approaches over various social situations. Lastly, it is
important to briefly explore the differences and similarities between these influences in an
appropriate manner to ensure that an overall evaluation has been made over their impact.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Berenbaum, S.A., Beltz, A.M. and Corley, R., 2015. The importance of puberty for adolescent
development: conceptualization and measurement. In Advances in child development and
behavior (Vol. 48, pp. 53-92). JAI.
Dahl, R.E., and et. al., 2018. Importance of investing in adolescence from a developmental
science perspective. Nature. 554(7693). pp.441-450.
Doyle, L.W., and et. al., 2015. Biological and social influences on outcomes of extreme-
preterm/low-birth weight adolescents. Pediatrics. 136(6). pp.e1513-e1520.
Foulkes, L. and Blakemore, S.J., 2018. Studying individual differences in human adolescent
brain development. Nature neuroscience. 21(3). pp.315-323.
Graber, J.A., Brooks-Gunn, J. and Petersen, A.C. eds., 2018. Transitions through adolescence:
Interpersonal domains and context. Psychology Press.
Kilford, E.J., Garrett, E. and Blakemore, S.J., 2016. The development of social cognition in
adolescence: An integrated perspective. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 70.
pp.106-120.
Kuhn, C., 2015. Emergence of sex differences in the development of substance use and abuse
during adolescence. Pharmacology & therapeutics. 153. pp.55-78.
Large, I., and et. al., 2019. Developmental trajectory of social influence integration into
perceptual decisions in children. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences. 116(7). pp.2713-2722.
Seiffge-Krenke, I., 2019. Adolescents' health: A developmental perspective. Psychology Press.
Welborn, B.L., and et. al., 2016. Neural mechanisms of social influence in adolescence. Social
cognitive and affective neuroscience. 11(1). pp.100-109.
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