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Feelings and desires can also be collectively known by yourself
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (PART II) and others. For example, if you are sitting in an audience after
HISTORY OF JOHARI WINDOW watching four hours of lectures, everyone in the room probably
It is necessary to improve self-awareness and personal knows that lunch is about to be served and there is little attention
development among individuals when they are in a group. The being paid to the speaker.
“Johari” window model is a convenient method used to achieve this Lyon describes this as the “I know, you know” window. There are
task of understanding and enhancing communication between the no secrets here.
members in a group. Another example, everybody who knows Lyon even for a little
American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham while, sees that he’s outgoing, quick to laugh, very willing to
developed this model in 1955. The idea was derived as the upshot engage in conversations and talk about almost all areas of his life.
of the group dynamics at the University of California and was later I usually have a positive attitude. I’m aware of all of this, and I’m
improved by Joseph Luft. The name “Johari” came from joining willing to communicate it openly.
their first two names. This model is also denoted as the
feedback/disclosure model of self-awareness. HIDDEN AREA _
The Johari window model is used to enhance the individual’s This is sometimes called the façade window, or the masked
perception of others. This model is based on two ideas – (1) trust window.
can be acquired by revealing information about you to others, (2) The phrase that describes this window is “I know, but you don’t.”
learning yourselves from their feedback. We’re keeping information here private or under wraps like your
Each person is represented by the Johari model through four fears or other issues. Maybe you have something from your past
quadrants or windowpane. Every four windowpanes signify that you’d rather not talk about. It could be that you’re not sharing
personal information, feelings, motivation, and whether that personal information like your hopes or dreams.
information is known or unknown to oneself or others in four Items that are known to you but not to others. Things in this
viewpoints. quadrant are attributes and personal details that you know about
yourself that are not known to others.
Depending on the situation, it might be better to reveal things
about yourself from the hidden area to build trust and move the
communication window closer to the “open” arena.
To use the example of a speaking engagement, in the
introductory remarks of your speech, you might want to describe
something memorable about yourself to build rapport with the
audience. Mentioning a fun fact or talking about a personal hobby
that’s related to the subject of the speech might be a good ice-
breaker according to the Johari window model.
Alex Lyon says that letting people know you can break down
communication barriers and build stronger relationships, whether
that be with an audience or with a close friend.
By telling the audience about yourself, the Open Arena pane
There are four assumptions that we must make when using this grows, and becomes bigger than the Facade pane as shown in the
diagram. image:
1. There is information that is known to only me
2. There is information that is known to only you (or, whoever
you’re communicating with).
3. There is information that is known to you and me.
4. There is information that neither of us knows.
Note that the sizes of the window panes can change based on
where the information is at any given point depending on how well
you know yourself, and how well others know you.
OPEN AREA OR ARENA _
Lyon describes this as the “I know, you know” window. There are
no secrets here.
This represents everything we know about ourselves and
everything that others know about us.
This includes information about the person such as their
attitudes, behavior, emotions, feelings, skills, and views that are
known by the communicator and the person or people they are
talking to. To better understand, try considering this example – what you
For example, if you are giving a speech, a panelist introduces really want to do is be an artist but you keep that information to
your name, title, qualifications, how long you’ll be speaking for, yourself, you keep it hidden because you don’t want to be
and the subject matter to the crowd. Now each person in the room criticized. The key is that you know what these various positives
(including yourself) is aware of each of these items. These facts are and negatives are even if you’re not talking about them openly with
in the open area arena in the Johari window model. others. So as you make some of this information known to others,
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SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
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then it becomes open. Once you talk about it, once it’s known to PUBLIC SELF-AWARENESS EFFECT
others, that open box will expand. Public self-awareness is when people are aware of how others see them.
BLIND SPOT OR HIDDEN AREA _ I. Evaluation apprehension
The third quadrant of the Johari Window model is the blind spot The object of others’ attention
– things that you are not aware of but other people can see or The evaluation apprehension theory was proposed by Nickolas
understand, this is a barrier to self-awareness. B. Cottrell in 1972. He argued that we quickly learn that the social
The phrase that describes this window is “I don’t know but you rewards and punishments (for example, in the form of approval and
do.” So here, we may not realize certain things about ourselves but disapproval) that we receive from other people are based on their
others know this about us. Information in this square could be evaluations of us.
positive or negative. In other words, performance will be enhanced or impaired only
In the example of public speaking, you may develop some in the presence of persons who can approve or disapprove of our
physical and unconscious habits. Things like rubbing your hands actions.
through your hair or averting eye contact with the audience are II. Temporary loss of self-esteem
physiological responses to being nervous. You probably don’t know Realizing that there is a discrepancy between your ideal and
that you’re doing these things, meaning you’re in the blind area to actual public self.
them despite that the people in the crowd can observe you doing Ideal public self is composed of the characteristics and
them. One way to correct these unconscious behaviors, in terms of personalities that are ideal to us. In other words, it’s how we want
public speaking, is to ask a colleague or a coach for feedback that to be. The actual public self is our self-image, it’s who we really are.
helps your own self-awareness. If there is a discrepancy between these two self, it will result in a
Another example, if you have ever traveled to another country, temporary loss of self-esteem.
you may have experienced the blind area firsthand. Living or III. Greater adherence to social standards of behavior
working in a different cultural setting brings out your blind spot Heightened degree conformity.
because it forces you to recognize your everyday habits and Because of your desire to know how other people perceive you,
expectations. For example, a businesswoman from New York might you have this greater adherence to the social standards/norms
not realize how inherently impatient she is until she travels to Social norms, or mores, are the unwritten rules of behavior that
Spain, where life is more relaxed and less rushed, this helps people are considered acceptable in a group or society.
reduce the size of the blind area. (cont.) People want approval, they want to belong, and those
By understanding yourself better, the Open Arena in the Johari who do not follow the norms will suffer disapproval. This is how we
window model will be wider, as shown in the image: keep society functioning, not just with direct rules but also
expectations. When people know what is expected of them they
tend to comply.
Examples:
A man should pay for the woman's meal when going out to
dinner
Men should be strong and not show emotion.
SELF CONSCIOUSNESS
The habitual tendency to engage in self-awareness.
Becoming aware of one’s positive and negative characteristics.
A personality trait.
SELF-REGULATION
The self’s most important function.
It refers to the ways in which we control and direct our own
actions.
UNKNOWN _ Self-regulation provides people with the capacity to forget the
The fourth square is the unknown, and the phrase for this is “I immediate gratification of small rewards to later attain larger
don’t know, you don’t know.” It occurs when there are things that rewards (Mischel, 1996)
both you and others aren’t aware of while you’re speaking to one
another. CONTROL THEORY OF SELF-REGULATION
How do we know this even exists? Information is always waiting A theory contending that through self-awareness, people
to be discovered. We know this because there is always new compare their behavior to a standard and if there is a discrepancy,
information to be learned about ourselves, others, and the world. they work to reduce it.
For example, Maye and Jai are talking about what meal they are Specifically, this is a “theory proposing that we use our self-
going to buy for their snacks. Maye asks, “Jai, do you like Matcha awareness to assess whether or not we are meeting our goals and,
latte?” Jai has never tried Matcha latte, so he does not know if he if not, make efforts to improve the self in line with these goals.”
will like it. Nobody knows if Jai likes Matcha latte until Jai actually Despite the simplified definition, the process as described in
tries it. Crisp and Turner (2010) actually consists of a cognitive feedback
For example, your friend asks you, “Do you like sushi?” You loop in which a person compares themselves to a standard (private
would have replied, “I don’t know, I’ve never tried it.” So it turns out or public, dependent upon their personal awareness factor).
you love sushi, and that was once unknown to you and to your TOTE (Test-Operate-Test-Exit)
friend, but now it’s in the open box.
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1. Test phase. If the individual does not meet the standard of The concept of giving priority to one’s own goals over group
comparison, theoretically, they take steps to meet the standard. goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes
2. Operation phase. Once the person has completed the steps rather than group identification.
involved, they compare themselves to the standard again. Goal of social life is to enhance one’s individual self.
3. Once again, a test phase. Focus on the self.
4. If at that point, the person has met the standard, they exit out of II. Collectivism
the feedback loop. If, however, they have not met the standard, the Interdependent self
person once again initiates the operation phase to take steps to The concept of giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often
meet their goals. This continues until such time as the person one’s extended family) and defining one’s identity accordingly.
meets the standard. Goal of social life is to harmonize with and support one’s
community.
SELF-DISCREPANCIES Focus on the group.
Discrepancies between our self-concept (our sense of who we
are/actual) and how we would ideally like to be (ideal self) or
believe others think we should (ought self) REFERENCES:
Coach, U. (2020, November 24). What is the Johari window model - Become a great
Higgins (1987) proposes Self-Discrepancy Theory “focuses not
communicator. Upskill Coach. https://upskillcoach.com/blog/what-is-the-
only on the awareness of discrepancies between actual and ideal johari-window/
identity but also on people’s emotional response to such Lyon, A. (2021). Johari Window Model [Video].
discrepancies” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi4SvpAFRmY
Theories of self-concept maintenance. (2012, November 22). Learning Theories and
Rather than comparison to a single private or public standard
all Things Educational.
self, Higgins postulates there are three distinct types of schema https://lynnmunoz.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/theories-of-self-concept-
related to the self: actual, ideal, and ought. maintenance/
I. Actual self
The actual self reflects current traits and characteristics.
II. Ideal self
The ideal self represents potential desired traits and
characteristics.
III. Ought self
The ought self reflects traits and characteristics we believe we
should possess, “based on a sense of duty, responsibility or
obligation”
This theory proposes that “people are motivated to ensure that
their actual self matches their ideal and ought self; the greater the
discrepancy between the actual self and a self-guide …the greater
the psychological discomfort that will be experienced”
Specifically, a discrepancy between actual and ideal selves
results in disappointment and sadness whereas a discrepancy
between actual-ought selves produces emotions such as “anger,
fear, and nervousness”
WHAT DETERMINES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL SELF?
1. The roles we play in society.
2. Social Comparison.
3. Social Identity.
4. Success and failure experience.
5. Judgment of other people.
6. The self and the culture.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTION THEORY
People as selves creatively shape reality through social
interactions.
It is a perspective that sees society as the product of shared
symbols, such as language. The social world is therefore
constructed by the meanings that individuals attach to events and
social interactions, and these symbols are transmitted across the
generations through language.
If we see a stick figure dressed in clothing, we automatically assume it
is a girl. If it doesn't have any clothes on, though, we assume it's a boy.
TWO TYPES OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS
I. Individualism
Independent self
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