With Spanking, Nature and Nurture Create More Aggression, Study Suggests

Using spanking as a method of discipline for kids who have a genetic predisposition to aggressive behavior likely makes them even more aggressive, especially boys, new research suggests.

"There's an intricate interplay between nature and nurture," said study co-author J.C. Barnes, an assistant professor of criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences. "Most people know that genes matter, but genes and environment can coalesce, and we see things above and beyond what's expected."

While the study found this effect was statistically pronounced in males, Barnes said that the combination of aggressive genes and being spanked as a child likely influences girls' behaviors, too. He said it might be that the combination of these two factors didn't reach statistical significance in girls because boys tend to act out more, and so present more opportunities to have that behavior seen in a study.