The Johari Window

     The self  arises out of self-appraisal and the appraisal of others and represents each individual’s unique pattern of values, attitudes, beliefs, emotions, behaviours, and needs. Self awareness  is the recognition of these aspects and understanding about their impact on the self and others.The Johari Window is a representation of the self and a tool that can be used to increase self awareness(Luft,1970)

                       A Johari window is a cognitive psychological tool created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. It is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.

When performing the exercise, subjects are given a list of 56 adjectives and pick five or six that they feel describe their own personality. Peers of the subject are then given the same list, and each pick five or six adjectives that describe the subject. These adjectives are then mapped onto a grid.

Charles Handy calls this concept the Johari House with four rooms. Room 1 is the part of ourselves that we see and others see. Room 2 is the aspects that others see but we are not aware of. Room 3 is the most mysterious room in that the unconscious or subconscious part of us is seen by neither ourselves nor others. Room 4 is our private space, which we know but keep from others.

Much, much more has been written on the Johari window model of human interaction. The process of enlarging the open quadrant is called self-disclosure, a give and take process between me and the people I interact with. Typically, as I share something about myself (moving information from my hidden quadrant into the open) and if the other party is interested in getting to know me, they will reciprocate, by similarly disclosing information in their hidden quadrant. Thus, an interaction between two parties can be modeled dynamically as two active Johari windows.

	Known to Self	Not Known to Self
Known to Others
Not Known to Others

Quadrants

Open: Adjectives that are selected by both the participant and his or her peers are placed into the Open quadrant. This quadrant represents traits of the subjects that both they and their peers are aware of.

Hidden: Adjectives selected only by subjects, but not by any of their peers, are placed into the Hidden quadrant, representing information about them their peers are unaware of. It is then up to the subject to disclose this information or not.

Blind Spot: Adjectives that are not selected by subjects but only by their peers are placed into the Blind Spot quadrant. These represent information that the subject is not aware of, but others are, and they can decide whether and how to inform the individual about these "blind spots".

Unknown: Adjectives that were not selected by either subjects or their peers remain in the Unknown quadrant, representing the participant's behaviors or motives that were not recognized by anyone participating. This may be because they do not apply or because there is collective ignorance of the existence of these traits

The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is one of the most useful models describing the process of human interaction. A four paned "window," as illustrated above, divides personal awareness into four different types, as represented by its four quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. The lines dividing the four panes are like window shades, which can move as an interaction progresses.

In this model, each person is represented by their own window. Let's describe mine:

1. The "open" quadrant represents things that both I know about myself, and that you know about me. For example, I know my name, and so do you, and if you have explored some of my website, you know some of my interests. The knowledge that the window represents, can include not only factual information, but my feelings, motives, behaviors, wants, needs and desires... indeed, any information describing who I am. When I first meet a new person, the size of the opening of this first quadrant is not very large, since there has been little time to exchange information. As the process of getting to know one another continues, the window shades move down or to the right, placing more information into the open window, as described below.

2. The "blind" quadrant represents things that you know about me, but that I am unaware of. So, for example, we could be eating at a restaurant, and I may have unknowingly gotten some food on my face. This information is in my blind quadrant because you can see it, but I cannot. If you now tell me that I have something on my face, then the window shade moves to the right, enlarging the open quadrant's area. Now, I may also have blindspots with respect to many other much more complex things. For example, perhaps in our ongoing conversation, you may notice that eye contact seems to be lacking. You may not say anything, since you may not want to embarrass me, or you may draw your own inferences that perhaps I am being insincere. Then the problem is, how can I get this information out in the open, since it may be affecting the level of trust that is developing between us? How can I learn more about myself? Unfortunately, there is no readily available answer. I may notice a slight hesitation on your part, and perhaps this may lead to a question. But who knows if I will pick this up, or if your answer will be on the mark.

3. The "hidden" quadrant represents things that I know about myself, that you do not know. So for example, I have not told you, nor mentioned anywhere on my website, what one of my favorite ice cream flavors is. This information is in my "hidden" quadrant. As soon as I tell you that I love "Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia" flavored ice cream, I am effectively pulling the window shade down, moving the information in my hidden quadrant and enlarging the open quadrant's area. Again, there are vast amounts of information, virtually my whole life's story, that has yet to be revealed to you. As we get to know and trust each other, I will then feel more comfortable disclosing more intimate details about myself. This process is called: "Self-disclosure."

4. The "unknown" quadrant represents things that neither I know about myself, nor you know about me. For example, I may disclose a dream that I had, and as we both attempt to understand its significance, a new awareness may emerge, known to neither of us before the conversation took place. Being placed in new situations often reveal new information not previously known to self or others. For example, I learned of the Johari window at a workshop conducted by a Japanese American psychiatrist in the early 1980's. During this workshop, he created a safe atmosphere of care and trust between the various participants. Usually, I am terrified of speaking in public, but I was surprised to learn that in such an atmosphere, the task need not be so daunting. Prior to this event, I had viewed myself and others had also viewed me as being extremely shy. (The above now reminds me of a funny joke, which I cannot refrain from telling you. It is said that the number one fear that people have is speaking in public. Their number two fear is dying. And the number three fear that people have, is dying while speaking in public.) Thus, a novel situation can trigger new awareness and personal growth. The process of moving previously unknown information into the open quadrant, thus enlarging its area, has been likened to Maslow's concept of self-actualization. The process can also be viewed as a game, where the open quadrant is synonymous with the win-win situation.

The Open or Public self

 The upper left quadrant of the window represents the part of the self that is public; that is, aspects of the self about which both the individual and others are aware.

Example:

Susan, a nurse who is the adult child of an alcoholic, has strong feelings about  helping alcoholics to achieve sobriety. She volunteers her time to be a support person on call to help recovering alcoholics. She is aware of her feelings and her  desire to help others. Members of the Alcoholic Anonymous  group in which she volunteers he time are also aware of Susan’s feelings and they feel comfortable calling her when they need help refraining from drinking.

The Unknowing Self

The upper right (blind)  quadrant of the window represents  the part of the self that is known to others but remains hidden from the awareness of the individual.

Example:

When Susan takes care of patients in detox, she does so without emotion, tending to the technical aspects of the task in a way that clients perceive as cold and judgemental. She is unaware that she comes across to the clients in this way.

The Private Self

The lower left quadrant of the window represents the part of the self that is known to the individual, but which the individual deliberately and consciously conceals from others.

Example: Susan would prefer not to take care of the clients in detoxo because doing so provokes painful memories from her childhood. Because she does not want the other staff members to know about these feelings, however,she  volunteers to take care of the detox clients whenever they are assigned to her unit.

The Unknown Self

The lower right quadrant of the window represents the part of the self that is unknown to both the individual and to others.

Example:

Susan felt very powerless as a child growing up with an alcoholic father.  She seldom knew in what condition she would find her father or what his behaviour would be .The need to stay in control has always been very important  to Susan and she is unaware that working with recovering alcoholics helps to fulfil this need in her .The people she is helping are also unaware that Susan is satisfying an unfulfilled personal need as she provides them with assistance.

The goal of increasing self-awareness by using the Johari Window is to  increase the size of the quadrant  that represents the open or public self. The individual who is open to self and others has the ability to be spontaneous and to share emotions and experiences with others. This individual also has a greater understanding of personal behaviour and of other’s responses to him or her. Increased self awareness allows an individual to interact with others comfortably, to accept the differences in others, and to observe each person’s right to respect and dignity.

Johari adjectives

A Johari window consists of the following 56 adjectives used as possible descriptions of the participant. In alphabetical order they are:

able accepting adaptable bold brave calm caring cheerful clever complex confident

dependable dignified energetic extroverted friendly giving happy helpful idealistic independent ingenious

intelligent introverted kind knowledgeable logical loving mature modest nervous observant organized

patient powerful proud quiet reflective relaxed religious responsive searching self-assertive self-conscious

sensible sentimental shy silly smart spontaneous sympathetic tense trustworthy warm wise witty

     

 CONCLUSION

The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is one of the most useful models describing the process of human interaction.

REFERENCES

Townsend M.C , Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing,Concepts of care inEvidence Based practice, 5^th edn,JaypeePublication,110-111

Luft, J.; Ingham, H. (1955). "The Johari window, a graphic model of interpersonal awareness". Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window 3.6.2011

Kelly, Anita E. and McKillop, Kevin J. (1996), "Consequences of Revealing Personal Secrets." Psychological Bulletin, v120(3), pg. 450

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window 3.6.2011