does return return the actual object or a copy of the object?

Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

the post name basically says it , im using a function when I require to return a specific object from a list so that I can modify .

private Object myobject;
	public void bind(Object obj){
		myobject = obj;
	}
	public Object obtain(){
		return myobject;//when this is returned is it myobject ie a c++ reference style object or a copy
	}