Answering the question ‘Who are you?’

Who do you really think you are? what is the you that you know? What is the you that visible to others? The question ’Who are you’ has been asked several times by different people at different places around the world. Knowing yourself is one thing, describing it and putting it into writing is another. Prior to helping other peoples’ psychological issues you must first try to understand yourself. The only people that cannot define who they are, are children and the mentally challenged individuals.


Your cognitive, biological and physiological composition define who you are. Some people believe that personality is the best approach to defining personality. Personality according to Lyall Watson is that which tells what an individual will do when placed in a given situation. Among the theories of personality, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is the most common.


There are certain valid approaches to explain the way you understand yourself. Through self concept, which helps you to paint a detailed picture about yourself, you can arrive at a complete description of yourself. Self concept or self perception is the way one sees himself, and this can be obtained through introspection.


Some factors are necessary in explaining self concept such as physical make up, things that are visible to others, for instance gender, skin colour, height, weight etc. Societal influence on your behaviour like the family, religion, political beliefs etc. Psychological factors such as I am intelligent, skilful, enthusiastic etc. You can also know more detail about yourself through self comparison; comparing yourself with others and relevance; things that are so important to you. To get all the necessary answers to the question, you have to sit down and think!