Personal identity and social identity are two main domains that determine quality of interpersonal and intercultural communication process. First and foremost the importance lies in what one thinks of himself or herself, and than how this person's views himself or herself as a part of society. These two domains determine people's self-concept and also how well one is able to blend in with an external environment in which they live.
Most people, from their birth and likely to the last day of their life, have one very important subconsciously asked question in their mind "who am I". It is a question of self-concept. How we come up with an answer to this question has various degrees of variation for each person, but very often this question in part is being answered for us by the hints which others give to us. Our own ability to compare ourselves to others puts things in perspective as well. Staring at very young age, even before person is able to think about the things such as who am I, other people start labeling that person by certain qualities and descriptions. Our physical qualities, such as bodily features in part predetermine our personal identity. Parents give boy or girl names, which suggests their gender. Environment in which we live influences our concept of who we are. There are strong forces which tell us what is the right way of doing things and what degree of freedom we have in determining of who we are. This is explained by cultural scholars as power distance theory, which states in different cultures people have various degrees of freedom to decide on what is acceptable for him or her.
As far as I can remember I know that I always had one important question in my mind, which was who am I right now and what am I going to be when I grow up. I remember writing small essay if first years of my school trying to explain somewhat bothering question of who I want to be when I grow up.
