This article is about the cognitive psychology tool. For theFringe episode, seeJohari Window (Fringe).
Johari window
TheJohari window is a technique[1] designed to help people better understand their relationship with themselves and others. It was created by psychologists Joseph Luft (1916–2014) and Harrington Ingham (1916–1995) in 1955, and is used primarily inself-help groups and corporate settings as aheuristic exercise.[2][3] Luft and Ingham named their model "Johari" using a combination of their first names.
In the exercise, someone picks a number ofadjectives from a list, choosing ones they feel describe their own personality. The subject's peers then get the same list, and each picks an equal number of adjectives that describe the subject. These adjectives are then inserted into a two-by-two grid of four cells.[4]
InInside Organizations: 21 Ideas for Managers (1990),Charles Handy calls this concept theJohari House with four rooms. Room one is the part of ourselves that both we and others can see into. Room two contains aspects that others see but we are unaware of. Room three is the private space we know but hide from others.[5] Room four is theunconscious part of us that neither we ourselves nor others see.
The open area is that part of our conscious self – our attitudes, behavior, motivation, values, and way of life – that we are aware of and that is known to others. We move within this area with freedom. We are "open books".
Façade/hidden
Adjectives selected by the subject, but not by any of their peers, go in this quadrant. These are things the peers are either unaware of, or that are untrue but for the subject's claim.
Blind Spot
Adjectives not selected by subjects, but only by their peers go here. These represent what others perceive but the subject does not.
Unknown
Adjectives that neither the subject nor the peers selected go here. They represent the subject's behaviors or motives that no one participating recognizes – either because they do not apply or because of collective ignorance of these traits.
The concept ofmeta-emotions categorized by basicemotions offers the possibility of a meta-emotional window as a motivational counterpart to the meta-cognitive Johari window.
One therapeutic target may be the expansion of the Open (Arena) square at the expense of both the Unknown square and the Blind Spot square, resulting in greater knowledge of oneself, while voluntary disclosure of Private (Hidden or Facade) squares may result in greater interpersonal intimacy and friendship.[7]
Newstrom, John W., and Stephen A. Rubenfeld (1983). “The Johari Window: A Reconceptualization.” Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning: Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL Conference,https://journals.tdl.org/absel/index.php/absel/article/view/2298.
Luft, Joseph (1972).Einfuhrung in die Gruppendynamik. Ernst Klett Verlag.
Hase, Steward; Alan Davies; Bob Dick (1999).The Johari Window and the Dark Side of Organisations.Southern Cross University.
