Self-Awareness

 

Johari Window: A window to Self-awareness

“Do you know yourself?” The question asked by my instructor left me with a perplexing and uncomfortable thought. “Do I really know myself well?” “Who I am, what do I want in life, what holds value for me??” After being a student of Psychology for years, I found myself on the same path where I had stood years ago when I was first introduced to the subject. The incident came as a revelation for me, and I realized that the quest for self-awareness and self-knowledge is a continuous process. Each one of us is intrigued to know who we are. More often, we should reflect on this question to develop an increased understanding of our self, thoughts, and actions.

“Look outside and you will see yourself. Look inside and you will find yourself.” — Drew Gerald

Motivated to familiarize myself with “Me,” I started recalling the ways to obtain self-awareness taught during my college days. There is a plethora of tools we can employ to enhance your self-awareness. One such fascinating technique is called - The Johari Window.

Johari Window is a great self-awareness tool, developed in 1955 by two American Psychologists. Interestingly, the name is a portmanteau of its creators: Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham. This is a psychological model that helps us to understand more about ourselves (self-awareness) and discover important aspects of one’s own self with emphasis on critical skills such as behaviour, empathy, team cooperation and personal development.

Johari Window model is based upon two things. First, to acquire the trust of others by revealing your information to them. Second, by learning about yourself through feedback by others.

Johari Window Model

Johari Window Model is also referred to as a “disclosure / feedback model of self-awareness.” Originally, the model was developed for researching the team’s group relations. Further research revealed more benefits of the model for every individual in their work and relationships. It has received great acceptability as a paradigm for soliciting and giving feedback.

 A Johari is represented as a common window with four panes. Two of these panes represent self and the other two represent the part unknown to self but to others.

1.     Open/self-area or arena – It is public part of our self which is known to oneself and to others too. It includes a person’s behaviour, attitude, skills, strengths, weaknesses, etc. This is the area where all the communications occur and the larger the arena becomes the more effectual and dynamic the relationship will be.

2.     Blind self or blind spot- This is the part of our self which is known to others, but unknown to oneself. Certain positive and negative traits or behaviour, or talent related to a specific area which is known to others; however, the person is unaware of comprising the blind spot.

Others may interpret yourselves differently than one may expect. The blind spot is reduced for an efficient communication through seeking feedback from others.

3.  Hidden area or façade - It is the hidden part of ourselves, which is known only to us, but unknown to the others. This can include personal information which one feels hesitant to reveal like feelings, past experiences, fears, secrets etc. We keep some of our feelings and information as private as it affects the relationships and thus the hidden area must be reduced by moving the information to the open areas.

4.   Unknown area – The part of our self that remains undiscovered by oneself as well as others. This area consists of new opportunities and scope for development along with threats and uncertainties. This can be due some past experiences or events which can be unknown for a lifetime. The person will be aware of it till he/she discovers his/her hidden qualities and capabilities or through observation of others. Open communication is also an effective way to decrease the unknown area.

Benefits of Johari Window

·       Self-Awareness: It serves as a self-analysis tool. Thus, making oneself aware of his strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by considering the views of others too.

·       Cordial Relationships: Helps to improve interpersonal relationships by providing better understanding of one another and focusing on self-improvement.

·     Improves Communication: open window for free and honest interaction and develops understanding among team members.

·       Personal Development: Aids in development of oneself since the blind area reveals those unknown facts which are known to others but may have been ignored by the person. These facts are sometimes related to the individual’s attitude, habits, behaviour which needs to be mended.

·       Group Dynamics: The Johari window encourages open conversations and feedback within a group. This enhances group performance and develops a mutual understanding among the group members by eliminating the problem areas and misunderstandings.

Johari Window is a powerful tool which can reveal great deal of information about a person to help them on this road of self-discovery.