TO MANY ONE’S IDENTITY IS FORMED BY HOW ONE SEES ONESELF AND HOW

ONE IS SEEN BY OTHERS. TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE

WITH THIS STATEMENT.

One’s Identity is defined as the characteristics that define who or what one is. In
Psychology, Identity is defined as the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or
expressions that make a person or a group. Identity refers to self image, self esteem
and Individuality. Identity is who one is, how one views oneself, how one is
viewed by the world and the characteristics that defines one. According to one of
my favourite authors, the author of the amazing book “The Hobbit”, J. R. Tolken,
“Identity is formed on the basis of Individuality (Uniqueness). It determines who
one is, who one chooses to be, and how one is perceived by others.” Identity is
one’s traits, positive and negative. It is a combination of, but not limited to, one’s
attributes, talents, strengths, passions, love and what one cares about. People have
different beliefs of the definition of identity, some believe Identity is one’s external
features, others believe it is the internal traits, while others still believe it is a
combination of both. I agree wholeheartedly that Identity is formed by how one
sees one self and how one is seen by others.

I agree with J. R. Tolken that Identity is formed on the basis of Individuality. It

determines who one is, who one chooses to be, and how one is perceived by others.
How people see you, what you portray and how you see yourself is what identifies
you. Take this conversation as an example.

TOLA: “Kolada, who is Magenta?”

KOLADE: Magenta is tall, dark skin toned, funny and amazing. She thinks she is
dumb but is perhaps the smartest person I have ever met.
Kolade had described Magenta, he had stated her Identity, stating the physical, “
tall and black”, stated how she is perceived “funny and amazing”, how she
perceives herself “dumb”and how he sees her. This is a common example of how
your identity is described by how you are seen and how you see yourself.
Everybody is embodied with a different Identity, just like fingerprints, no two are
the same. They might have a few similarities but they are still different. Stereotype
is overrated. You define who you are but how people see you determines if your
definition of yourself is valid. Therefore a combination of how one sees oneself
and how others see you Identifies one.