Running head: A REFLECTIVE JOURNEY USING THE JOHARI WINDOW 1

A Reflective Journey Using the Johari Window

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A Reflective Journey Using the Johari Window

The Johari Window is an exploration of the Self. It enables one to reflect on one’s

identity, and presents that there exists a difference of what you present to others as your

identity in contrast with who you truly are as a whole. Completing the Johari Window was an

enlightening experience, it allowed me to explore and explicate myself so that I could

become a better person by widening the knowledge of others of my true nature. Most

importantly, it promotes open communication as the path in building better relationships as it

strengthens the trust one possesses for the other.

Even before The Johari Window, I knew that the Self is multi-dimensional, but did

not have any knowledge as to how many it is or how the Self is divided. Given that it is a

self-awareness model, the Johari Window allowed me to establish and place my identity in

different quadrants. In the Open Quadrant, I placed traits besides my gender, the personality

and characteristics I knew I possessed such as being outgoing, my love to eat and experiment

with food and that I am currently a student. As I did this with a close friend of mine, he

showed me that I still had blind spots on myself. He told me that I had a funny laugh, that I

snore when I sleep and that I get cranky whenever I was hungry. The Hidden Quadrant was a

difficult part to provide details on because even listing the things I did not want to be known

was hard and it made me unearth things that I had kept for a long time. Essentially, the entire

process of creating the window involved a long period of complete honesty and

contemplation of who I was and how I had grown as a person.

In understanding the sense of self, this window becomes significant because it

removes one’s ignorance towards how you see yourself and how others see you. Because it

shines a light in the perspective of others, it led me to discover things about me that I did not

even know myself. Through the four quadrants, I was able to acknowledge that despite being

an overall open person, there were things that I was still too scared to share with others. The
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Hidden Quadrant led me to ponder on why I was keeping this information to myself in the

first place and if I will ever be able to reveal this secret to someone close to me eventually. I

also understand that I had kept this information hidden out of fear of being judged. Out of all

the quadrants, the Unknown Quadrant for me was the most thought-provoking since it

recognizes that there will be things or memories that I have experienced yet will never

remember again. For me, this dimension provided a sense of humility, since it imparts that

one can never really know one’s self wholly and by accepting this, he or she is able to grasp

their whole identity.

Self-disclosure is so challenging because it demands the person to expose things that

you have kept to yourself for a long time. As I have mentioned before, keeping a secret often

roots from fear of judgment. I myself fear that by sharing this secret to another person, even

if he or she is a trusted friend of mine or is a close family member I still feel that I will

receive harsh judgment from it. I fear that they will begin to see me in a different way and

that our relationship will never be the same as before once I tell them. In addition to this, I

fear that this friend or family member of mine will abandon me, sever the ties that we have

been nurturing for a long time and because I cherish that person, I begin to think that it is best

if I should not fully disclose myself. For some, I think it can be because they feel guilty or

ashamed of possessing said secret hence, they choose not to share this information with

others. The level of trust becomes a huge factor so self-disclosure becomes difficult if you do

not trust that person enough.

Another helpful contribution of the Johari Window is that through it, conflicts that

arise in intimate relationships can be resolved. As discussed by Deveraux-Ferguson (2014),

when it comes to building a strong foundation in relationships, authenticity or the ability to

open your true self is needed. And one should be willing to trust someone enough to expose

all your good sides and bad sides, which is basically the most essential part of having an
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intimate relationship with someone. Because the window enables one to be self-aware, I will

begin to recognize my flaws and how my personality affects others positively or negatively.

Furthermore, it was said that this window can help in increasing intimacy by transferring

some attributes or information on the hidden quadrant into the open quadrant (Deveraux-

Ferguson, 2014). From this, I am able to cultivate more trust towards my loved one and he or

she will understand why I am acting that way at times of conflict. Lastly, this window

encourages open communication and by doing so, repression of feelings and further tension

will be prevented. Just by telling what you really want to say and what you are feeling at that

moment aids in resolving the problem.

In conclusion, the Johari window empowered me to have a clearer understanding of

myself, fundamentally the aspects evident in my exterior as well as an in-depth exploration of

the qualities hidden or unknown to myself and to others. This process helped me to fully

comprehend myself because it removes obliviousness by knowing the traits I do not see for

myself and only by others. Moreover, it encourages me to confront the things I had kept

hidden, and is beneficial in my intimate relationships because in self-disclosure we will be

able to communicate better and share our innermost feelings without judgment.
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References

Devereaux-Ferguson, S. (2014). Communication in Everyday Life: Personal and

Professional Contexts (1st ed., pp. 247-248). Oxford University Press.