SH,
I think that certain events in our past can be said to have made a definate impression on the way that we see the world. One of my big ones happend to be my parents divorce...which I still have emotional oddities to this day.
If a I meet a guy who reminds me at all of my dad, I won't date him, for example.
Also, my mom didn't think that I should be allowed to get angry, and that my opinions shouldn't matter as much as hers did.
That affects me to this day. I took Merika's (Amerika? jk
) box test, and that aspect of my personality shone through loud and clear.
So, to this day I believe my emotional needs to be quite minimal, but I will not back down on what I do expect and need, and am somewhat exacting in reality.
Anyway, that's just an example of childhoods affecting adulthoods.
However, bad behavior is bad behavior no matter what the reasons are. I catch myself being just awful sometimes, and rather then try to make excuses for whatever it is that I've said or done, I try to fess up to it rather then making excuses for myself.
I mean...it's one thing to understand why we act the way we do...it's another to conquer less then desirable traits, and strive to make yourself a better person.