Nature vs. Nurture

The argument over whether environment or genetics plays the bigger part in creating violent dispositions is moving towards a tentative reconciliation. London-based research has proposed that the level of a particular gene – MAOA, which regulates an individual’s mood – in conjunction with social history and environment is the main cause of anti-social behaviour. The evidence is largely drawn from long-term research by the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study on 500 NZ men from birth (they are now in their 20s).