One of the greatest gifts you could give yourself is to seek, find, and apply truth in your life. This is the path to becoming a healthy person. Aligning yourself with the truth permits a better person to eventually emerge from within. If you happen to agree then you will love the Johari Window. Years ago two gentlemen came up with this little creature. Their respective names were Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. The Johari Window helps you to categorize conscious and subconscious areas of your life. The window works much like a grid. It goes from the obvious and more conscious areas of your life to the less obvious areas that your may not be aware of.
The Johari Window can be looked at from many angles and provides four basic forms of the Self (the Public, Private, Blind, and Undiscovered Self).
The Public Self is what you and others see in you. You typically do not mind discussing with others this part of you. Most of the time you agree with this view you have and others have of you.
The Private or Hidden Self is what you see in yourself but others don’t. In this part you hide things that are very private about yourself. You do not want this information to be disclosed for the reason of protection. It could also be that you may be ashamed of these areas due to vulnerability to having your faults, weaknesses, and dysfunctions exposed. This area equally applies to your good qualities that you don’t want to advertise to the world due to modesty.
The Blind Self is what you do not see in yourself but others see in you. You might see yourself as an open-minded person when, in reality, people around you consider you an anatomical posterior (wink). This area also works the other way. You might see yourself as a “dumb” person while others might consider you incredibly bright. Sometimes those around you might not tell you what they see because they are scared of you, fear offending you, or might consider it a waste of time. It is in this arena that people sometimes detect that your talk and your walk don’t match. Sometimes body-language shows this mismatch.
The Undiscovered or Unknown Self is the self that you cannot see nor others around you. In this category there might be good and bad things that are out of the awareness of others and yours.
The Johari Window is a very helpful internal and external communication grid (intra-psychic and interpersonal). You may find it quite useful as you journey forward into the discovery of who you are.
Samuel López De Victoria, Ph.D. is an adjunct professor at Miami Dade College, and a psychotherapist in private practice. He can be contacted at http://www.DrSam.tv.
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11 Comments to
“The Johari Window”
I think that in the depressive’s mind, the hidden self contains a laundry list of negative qualities and that it takes precendence over everything else in the Johari window. Thus, this concept can be very helpful in detecting the beginnings of a depressive episode.
Wendy Aron, author of Hide & Seek: How I Laughed at Depression, Conquered My Fears and Found Happiness
http://www.wendyaron.com
The question now becomes how do I construct or fill in my Johari Window? Is a person able to step outside himself so to speak and observe himself and effectively identify the various cagtegories of himself and fill in the window? Are there questions to consider, or will he need to meet with a friend or professional to walk him through the process and then interpret the window?
If a person is unable to see himself correctly how will he “journey forward into the discovery of who he is?”
And, I love the “anatomical posterior (wink)” comment.
Terry,
I would summarize my answer as:
Meditation: You may use spiritual processes such as prayer, chanting or praising, thinking about spiritual texts and concepts, etc. These can bring illumination and therefore insight and enlightenment into who you are. Meditation usually requires spending unhurried time alone and away from the daily movement of your life in society.
Contemplation: Can include meditation. Contemplation is a modified form of meditation where you don’t have to give up your normal life to do. You process as you move throughout your day. You look at your behavior, actions, reactions, how others respond to you, etc.
Consultation: Exposure to others and their opinions on your life, behavior, and how you affect them. For example, the following old Neurolinguistic Programming quote can help. This quote states that “the meaning of your communication is how it is received.” This is a very powerful concept. It shows that the real meaning of what you do depends on how others are reading it. This can lead you to some discoveries.
This is just a quick “off-the-cuff” answer. I hope it helps a little.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
http://www.DrSam.tv
Sam,
That is helpful, and makes sense. And I suppose if I needed further guidance some probing and insightful questions in conversation with someone like yourself or a good friend who understood these matters would speed along the discovery process. - Terry
I have received some reaction through my personal web site (www.DrSam.tv) concerning the reference to “chanting.” I believe some of these persons come from a religious background where the word “chanting” is not used or perceived as “New Age.” Though I do not categorize myself as a “New Ager” I personally believe that the word “chant” can be applied to Christian practices such as prayer, singing, praise worship, speaking in tongues, and of course, to the Gregorian Chant music. The linguistical problem happens when one hears a word that might have been introduced in a negative context (such as the word, “chant.” The worship context has elements where religious phrases are repeated, hence “chanting.”
In the case of the Gregorian chant some such as Dr Alan Watkins, a senior lecturer in neuroscience at Imperial College London, say that there are benefits to lowering blood pressure, increase good hormone levels, and reduce anxiety and depression. For a link to this recent article go to:
I hope I have been able to clarify and not offend anyone’s religious sensibilities. One goal of my article was to stimulate people to look inside. How they do it, is up to them.
Hi Sam,
I really like the idea of Johari Window.
I agree with you that finding the truth in our life and enjoying the performance of the truth in our life will give us less stress and more power.We have to listen the truth as we listen a live and a beatiful music that is magic not because of the mucical instrument , but because of the musician.
Albana,
You said it quite well. I am a strong believer in the statement that says that knowing the truth will set us free. It will set us free from toxic beliefs, irrational thinking, trauma memories, phobias, etc.
Thank you,
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
http://www.DrSam.tv
I kind of like this introspective Johari Window thing. I haven’t tried it myself nor do I know of anyone who has. However, I suspect that it would be a great tool and perhaps coping mechanism for depression, anxiety, or even migraines which often stems from depression, stress or anxiety. It’s a sort of brief diary if you will. It also seems to mirror the techniques of Namaste yoga and maybe a bit of existentialism.
I’m sure there are a lot of stressors that start my migraines and if I would just attempt to use this Johari technique, I might see a change!
Dr. Sam, I too agree that if we address the unconscious truths within ourselves and our lives we can be freed. Some people believe that they live more comfortably if they don’t have to face reality or the truth. However, that tends to have an opposite effect on our psychological stability. Finding the strength to come to terms with the truth and learning more about who we truly are, will eventually be beneficial.
Meditation, yoga, or prayer are three tools I make much use of.
Tamra
Sam,
I learned about the Johari Window years ago and I think you have missed a critical perspective. Johari’s Window is a graphical construct that is difficult to explain without drawing it on a piece of paper, but it explains the nature of what a “window” opens with the Johari perspective: the interdependence that emerges from true friendship.
When I explain a bit of me that you don’t see, I take the risk to expand a bit of my private self to you - expanding my public self to you. This expands the verticle line between my public and private self.
With this new insight and trust I convey to you, you then explain to me something I have never seen about myself, expanding my public self into my blind domain. This expands the horizontal line between my blind self and the unknown.
The intersection of these expanding lines unlocks the tiny box that opens in my unknown self that both of us now understand and share. I always thought the principle behind Johari’s window was the joint benefit of interdependence.
Chris,
Thank you for contributing more on the Johari Window. When I discovered it I found it explained so much… more than the conscious mind sees. I am a strong believer of the negative power of self-deception and how the subconscious mind is in the business of working on many levels. The Johari Window is a great way to see levels of deep issues.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
http://www.DrSam.tv
what is your understanding of Johari Window? what is the major difference between blind and hidden area, how does it facilitates a manager in his/ her organizational life?
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 8 Jul 2008
