ABSTRACT
Self-knowledge can be gained in a variety of ways. People often learn things about themselves by observing how they behave in various situations. These situations might be very ordinary ones, or stressful ones, or even those contrived by psychological experimenters. One can also gain self-knowledge by talking with other people and seeing oneself reflected in their comments and attitudes. For example, I may not be aware of how self-centred I am until someone else points it out to me. I then have self-knowledge or self-understanding that I did not possess before. Discussing issues with a trained therapist is supposed to be an especially helpful way to learn about oneself in this way. Much of this knowledge about oneself could be acquired in the same way by others, since they too can observe, or gain access to, what another person says and does.
