Dr. Jerome Kagan's review of a book by Samuel Barondes is not kind. Barondes thesis has two main parts:

The narrative rests on two ideas. The first, which is in accord with evidence, but is given the least attention, is that each person’s genetic makeup makes an important contribution to his or her personality. Few scientists would quarrel with that declaration. Barondes acknowledges that the available evidence is too sparse to permit any firm conclusions regarding a relationship between any gene, or genes, and any known personality trait because a person’s experiences not only control the form that an inherited trait assumes but also influence the level of gene expression.

The heart of the text revolves around the second idea: three lists of words naming human characteristics. One list refers to 10 profiles that psychiatrists use to classify patients:

• excessive disregard for others
• unusual sensitivity to criticism
• extreme impulsivity
• perfectionism
• overdependence on others
• constant seeking of attention
• feelings of grandiosity
• paranoid distrust of others
• emotional detachment
• eccentric habits

The second list names a number of character traits, such as orderliness, humility, courage, and wisdom, which, Barondes notes, Benjamin Franklin would have endorsed. The third list refers to five continuous dimensions, called the Big Five, on which people are placed depending on their answers to a questionnaire. The five dimensions are extraversion to introversion, agreeable to disagreeable, conscientious to careless, open to new ideas to dogmatically closed, and tense to relaxed. http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=34364

The rest of Kagan's review itemizes what he views as the book's deficiencies. To me, a review of this type is not atypical. So much is going on in the mental health field and there is so much more to learn. It is not surprising there are disagreements.

[madisgram]

ah the environmental and the genetic (hereditary) theories are still fresh.
as for my former alcoholism and bipolar tho, "the genes (ayes) have it".
just my humble opinion but i feel my basic personality is based on the conditional learned behaviors that occured during my formative years. after that everything got tacked onto that info causing my viewpoints and personality traits. some of which i've needed to change to cope with life in a more healthy way. the previous /early childhood info became painful to say the least.