Stranger in the Nest: Do Parents Really Shape Their Child's Personality, Intelligence, or Character? (Hardcover)

by David B. Cohen (Author)
Key Phrases: strong genetic potential, antisocial potential, treated more alike, Prenatal World, Making Connections, Will Durant (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Parents who blame themselves for children who are unambitious, irresponsible, moody or suicidal may be full of unwarranted self-reproach, Cohen contends, because the influence of parenting on a child's personality development is much weaker than most people assume. According to this professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, genetic factors play a pervasive role in molding individual capabilities, dispositions, habits, intelligence and emotional adjustment. He bases this conclusion in part on studies demonstrating the close psychological resemblance of identical twins reared apart, on studies of adoptees and on recent investigations pointing to startling connections between DNA patterns or single genes and personality traits. This highly accessible, forcefully argued report is a brilliant synthesis of the new genetic findings and their often stunning implications, though Cohen overstates his case, citing, for example, debatable studies that conclude that attitudes about the death penalty, religion, patriotism and sex before marriage have a high degree of heritability. Far from endorsing genetic determinism, however, Cohen underscores the importance of parenting in fostering security, learning, civility and self-confidence. Further, he believes that individual autonomy and unforeseeable life circumstances make it hard to predict how a child grows into adulthood. His "seven rules of parenting" combine good common sense with some cautions, as when he asserts, "Parents have limited moral responsibility for how a child turns out." This opinionated salvo in the nature vs. nurture debate will challenge general readers, psychologists, scientists and thoughtful parents.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
University of Texas psychologist Cohen (Out of the Blue: Depression and Human Nature, LJ 5/15/94) continues the much-debated question of nature vs. nurture in this well-researched study of parental influence on the development of children. He answers the oft-asked question of how nurturing, well-adjusted, nonabusive parents can have children who are neurotic, nasty, or amoral. Cohen favors the belief that genetic predisposition has a greater bearing than we acknowledge on shaping a child's personality, intelligence, and character, but he also suggests that parents are essential to a child's psychological development. Through the exploration of well-documented studies, he successfully shows that parental influence has been overstated and genetic influence understated. A highlight of this work is Cohen's presentation of seven rules of parenting, emphasizing respect for others, responsibility for oneself, and the dignity of the individual. Highly recommended for psychology collections in academic and large public libraries.AElizabeth Goeters, Georgia Perimeter Coll., Dunwoody
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471319228
• ISBN-13: 978-0471319221
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #394,533 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have book for a thinking person's shelf., May 5, 1999

By	William Tillier "btillier" (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

David Cohen presents an outstanding look at what makes us who we are. This book has a strong academic foundation, presented in an intelligent and humorous style making it a pleasure to read. Cohen's last book, "Out of the Blue" has become a classic reference for the clinician interested in depression. Stranger in the nest seems destined to become an indispensable volume in the ongoing debate about nature versus nurture and the role of parents in a child's development. Many diverse issues are discussed and many difficult questions are articulated. This is a very satisfying contribution to a field where important questions abound and research continues.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stranger in the Nest Review, May 21, 2004

By	Randy Diehl (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

As a teacher, I was struck by Cohen's ability to communicate highly technical research findings in a clear, vivid, and highly readable manner to an educated lay readership (the intended audience). As a scientist, I was deeply impressed by the rigor and intellectual honesty with which you approached the central issues at have. And as a parent, I was grateful for the opportunity to understand more fully the limits of my own influence over the personalities and characters of my two children.

The central theme of the manuscript obviously runs counter the most of the conventional wisdom about child rearing and its effects. But when one considers the heavy and unfair burden of responsibility that many parents have felt when their children have suffered from such maladies as autism, drug addiction, and sociopathy, it is high time that this conventional wisdom-with its almost complete absence of scientific foundation-must be challenged by responsible scientists.
This is a profoundly compassionate book. . . . I will recommend it enthusiastically to friends and colleagues who themselves have experienced similar family problems. In writing this book, which I know has been a labor of love, Cohen has performed a great service, both intellectually and morally.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shoddy prose and poor organization, December 9, 2002

By	James Daniels (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

In Stranger in the Nest, David Cohen skeptically examines the role of parents in shaping their childrens' lives. The book is loaded with examples from dozens of studies of twins, adoptions, and family life. Cohen concludes that children are shaped by their genetic endowment more than their parents' style of rearing.

Although he does an excellent job of highlighting the confounds, difficulties, and overgeneralizations from many areas of psychological research, his contribution to the field is neither novel nor particularly readable. Cohen points out that correlations between parental behavior and child behavior are confounded by their relatedness, and in so doing illustrates the fundamental problems with research in this area. He returns again and again to relatedness, or genetics, as the answer to why children resemble their parents.

In this regard, Cohen was beaten to the punch by Judith Rich Harris' book, The Nurture Assumption. The Nurture Assumption is a much better book than Stranger in the Nest, in part because it covers both the child's peer environment, his home environment, and his genetic endowment all at the same time and in greater depth than Cohen does. Cohen's book is also defective in that it presents no organizing hypothesis or overarching framework: it is a series of detached anecdotes and synopses of various studies, interspersed too liberally with rhetorical questions.

I agree with Cohen's thesis that genetics matters more to childhood outcomes that we usually acknowledge, and often more than parental nurturance. I found the author's style too dense and punchy, skipping from point to point and not analyzing each major aspect of parenting in sufficient depth.

Those interested in this book would find essentially the same argument and a lot more from Judith Rich Harris, and a more enjoyable and better organized book, to boot.