essay: johari window

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I guess I did finally do my psych essay.

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The Johari Window:
Window to Becoming Aware of Oneself

The Johari Window is essentially a window to one’s awareness of oneself in terms of personality trait expression and serves as a useful tool in understanding how information is given and received in relationships. The model is basically, a rectangular figure divided into four distinct sections: the Arena/Open, the Blind Spot, the Façade, and the Unknown. In developing a Johari Window, peers of the subject are asked to select five or six personality traits from a set list that they believe best describe the target individual, whom already selected traits about him/herself. After several peers have evaluated the person, the window begins to take form.

The Arena/Open area describes the quadrant in which information is known about the individual under mutual terms between the public and him/herself. The Blind Spot represents the section where characteristics that are perceived by others are present, but not known by the subject. In the third quadrant, the façade dwells, where traits about the individual are avoided or hidden and not known by the public. Lastly, the Unknown contains information that remains inexistent and yet to be elicited.

Developed in the 1950’s by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, the Johari Window is appropriately named with the combination of the model’s creators (Joseph + Harry = JoHari) and remains a new contribution to the world of psychology and work. When viewing the grid, the method of benefiting from such heavily supports ideas of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Passing the bottom of the pyramid and going directly to the top of Maslow’s diagram, the Johari Window emphasizes on self-improvement and in Maslow’s case, self-actualization. In addition to the humanistic approach of becoming better people, the Johari Window may also be incorporated into Freud’s theories of the unconscious in respect to the Unknown area of the model. Freud also thought consciousness is like the tip of the iceberg with vast area containing our judgment, morals, and unconscious beneath. In a way, the Johari Window maps out the little details that can help reveal the iceberg or expand our sense of reality and act accordingly.

The goal of the model is to simply help people understand themselves and others; and through mutual understanding, optimize productivity within the working place. New teams begin with larger hidden and unknown areas with blind spots slowly forming from first impressions. Overtime, team members’ should be evoked by either self-discovery (bringing into the hidden), others’ observation (into the blind spot), or together as a team (into the arena). It is advised that a good team have a large Arena of openness and understanding in comparison of other quadrants. A large hidden area and blind spot signifies that members are distant.

In order to expand the Arena and minimize the other sections, feedback and self-disclosure is important in a group or environment. Feedback solicitation gives others a chance to express how they feel about an individual with open ears to listen and make changes. Self-disclosure is all about telling others about oneself in an effort to gain interest and information to bond.

Although the Johari Window provides a great method for evaluating the growth of closeness and openness within a team, such results render useless if members of a team or individuals are unwilling to act upon the newfound information of the model. More disadvantages of the window include the competence of those evaluating—for example, do participants know the difference between being knowledgeable versus intelligent? Of the provided list of fifty-five adjectives, how many may be perceived as synonyms of each other? Such items need to be taken into consideration.

Overall, some may view the Johari Window as a silly activity where individuals fish for compliments, and in that way, the model may be seen as a singularly appreciable exercise, but others may walk away with something more—the seed of motivation for their quests for self-actualization and improvement.

Lilxerica's Johari Window

Arena (known to self and others) complex, intelligent, observant, patient, reflective, self-assertive	Blind Spot (known only to others) able, accepting, adaptable, bold, calm, caring, cheerful, clever, confident, dependable, dignified, energetic, extroverted, friendly, giving, happy, helpful, idealistic, independent, kind, knowledgeable, logical, loving, mature, modest, organised, relaxed, religious, sensible, sympathetic, trustworthy, warm, wise, witty
Façade (known only to self)	Unknown (known to nobody) brave, ingenious, introverted, nervous, powerful, proud, quiet, responsive, searching, self-conscious, sentimental, shy, silly, spontaneous, tense

Dominant Traits

53% of people think that lilxerica is friendly
57% of people agree that lilxerica is intelligent

All Percentages

able (15%) accepting (23%) adaptable (7%) bold (3%) brave (0%) calm (15%) caring (19%) cheerful (11%) clever (3%) complex (3%) confident (11%) dependable (34%) dignified (3%) energetic (19%) extroverted (11%) friendly (53%) giving (3%) happy (11%) helpful (15%) idealistic (3%) independent (7%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (57%) introverted (0%) kind (15%) knowledgeable (23%) logical (15%) loving (7%) mature (38%) modest (11%) nervous (0%) observant (11%) organised (19%) patient (7%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflectiverelaxed (3%) religious (3%) (3%) responsive (0%) searching (0%) self-assertive (11%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (3%) sentimental (0%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (7%) tense (0%) trustworthy (26%) warm (7%) wise (7%) witty (3%)

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 16.4.2009, using data from 26 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view lilxerica's full data.