Perspectives on the self

in communication: the
cognition continuum and
the JOHARI Window.
(Special Issue: Advanced
Technology.)
Technical Communication - November 1, 1994
Charles E. Beck

Word count: 2308.

citation details

We technical communicators learn early in our careers to focus on audience analysis in completing a
communication task. In so doing, we maintain an objective or external focus; and we assume that our
own self in the process is obvious. As psychology tells us, however, knowing more about ourselves
may be a key to our performance in a range of life areas, especially in our communication. John
Johnson stresses the need for effective intrapersonal communication if one is to succeed on the
interpersonal level (Johnson 1984). The centrality of the "self" concept also forms the basis of Brown
and Keller's Monologue to Dialogue (1979).

To begin to explore the self in the communication process, this column considers two aspects of
intrapersonal communication: the range of cognition, and the Johari Window as a model for
contrasting our view of ourselves and how others view us.

Range of Cognition

Among the levels of communication, the intrapersonal is significant, though frequently ignored. Since
the individual lies at the center of all communication, unless we realize the way in which the individual
functions, we have an incomplete understanding of this central element of the communication process.
In particular, we must recognize that conscious thought is only part of our cognitive activity. Beyond
our direct control, however, the thought process involves both an unstructured and an unconscious
component.

Isaac Asimov (1965) considers thought processes under two poles of a continuum, conscious and
unconscious thinking. For Asimov, the mind parallels the body: We can control our breathing rate
consciously, or we can be oblivious to it as it adjusts to circumstances; similarly, we can control our
thought processes, or the mind can think on its own beyond our conscious control. For Asimov, people
who struggle with a problem yet fail to find any solution sometimes need to direct their attention
elsewhere; then, the unconscious thought process can work on the solution, unfettered by the
limitations of conscious thought.

The result of unconscious thinking is the "Eureka Phenomenon," a moment of insight which may seem
to come out of the blue while the individual is engaged in a totally unrelated activity. Psychoanalysts
who work with "free association" techniques try to tap into this alternate form of processing.

While Asimov considers only the two extremes, the continuum actually ranges from structured to
unstructured to unconscious. Intrapersonal communication, the ways in which we communicate with
ourselves, occurs along a continuum of cognition:

Structured -- Unstructured -- Unconscious

Structured cognition involves our consciously controlled thought processes used in solving problems
or answering questions: We research our experience, or we logically examine facts and evidence from
which we draw conclusions, solutions, or answers. This end of the continuum often serves as the
"norm" for thinking.

The human mind, however, contains further abilities. Unstructured cognition occurs in a train of
associations, where we are not controlling so much as following an idea to see where it goes. We
often consider this unstructured thought as day-dreaming, where our mind wanders along a train of
associations far removed from our current circumstances. We can even start to doze off in this semi-
conscious state.

At the far end of the continuum lies the unconscious. The unconscious mind often reveals itself in
dreams, where our cognition can rearrange our experiences, no longer constrained by our limiting
categories and assumptions. And insight can come "out of the blue" at times when we are not even
consciously considering a topic, but instead are engrossed in an alternate activity or asleep.

Although we can learn about the unconscious through psychoanalysis, that process contains a logical
contradiction: If we make the unconscious "conscious," we have destroyed its nature as unconscious.
Recent controversies over repressed memory versus hypnotic suggestion touch on this inherent
logical contradiction. In contrast to hypnosis, however, dream analysis can become an independent
manner of assessing the contents of this unconscious mode of thinking.

While we may not be accustomed to recognizing the extent of cognitive activity, the continuum of
conscious structured-unstructured-unconscious thought helps to account for the complexity involved in
human communication. On the popular level, this continuum appears by analogy in a familiar poster
text that Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca turned into an automobile commercial: Lead, follow, or get out
of the way. Figure 1 expands the continuum with other parallel ways of thinking.

Figure 1: Continuum of intrapersonal communication

Structured Unstructured Unconscious

Conscious control Awareness Oblivious

Problem solving Daydreaming Dreaming
Logical Association Unfettered
Lead Follow Get out of the way

Most of us tend to overlook the range of cognitive processes, especially those toward the middle and
right side of the continuum. As a culture, we've been trained to hold in high esteem the conscious
control of activity. Externally, this control comes across in the image of the activist hero, an image that
began with the rugged pioneers whose actions tamed a continent (despite the cost to selves and
others). Recent movements within our culture, however, have begun to recognize this inner resource
and to help people tap into it by training in such techniques as meditation, journal writing, and even
spiritual guidance.
As communicators, we tend to miss an extensive range of cognitive experience if we limit ourselves
only to the area of conscious control.

JOHARI Window

The range of human cognitive processes gives some indication of the breadth and creativity at the
center of the communication process. When we add to this range the transactional nature of
communication--the fact that multiple people have similar inner experiences and interpretations--we
can understand how people have different impressions of the same event, as well as different sets of
interpretations and assumptions. A model that captures these parallel perceptions, the Johari Window,
enables us to gain a perspective on the individual within the communication process.

The Johari Window is a matrix with four quadrants that visualize the self based on information known
or not known to self and others. The name Johari Window comes from its creators, Joe and Harry
(Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham.) The matrix illustrates four selves: open, hidden, blind, and
unknown.

The Open Self represents all the information, behaviors, attitudes, feelings, desires, motivations, and
ideas that are known to the self and also known to others. This type of information is quite extensive,
ranging from name, color of hair, sex, and age to work history, political affiliations, and even statistics
on sports performance.

The Hidden Self consists of all that we know of ourselves and of others but that we keep to ourselves.
At the extremes of disclosure, we have over-disclosers and under-disclosers.

Figure 2: Johari Window

Known to Self Not Known to Self

Known to Others Open Self Blind Self

Not Known to Others Hidden Self Unknown Self

Over-disclosers keep little hidden about themselves or others. They tell you their family history, sexual
problems, marital difficulties, children's problems, financial status, successes, and failures. They do
not distinguish to whom such information should or should not be disclosed, nor do they distinguish
what types of information should be disclosed.

The under-disclosers reveal very little; they talk about you, but not about themselves. We might
believe that they are afraid to tell anyone anything for fear of being laughed at or rejected; conversely,
we may feel rejected for their refusal to trust us. Most people fall in between as selective disclosers.

The Blind Self represents all the things that others know about us but of which we are ignorant. Such
things may include the habit of saying "you know" or rubbing your nose when you get angry; or it may
include having a peculiar defense mechanism or even bad breath. Some people have a very,large
blind self, oblivious to their own faults and even to their own virtues. Others have a rather small blind
self, mostly aware of themselves.

Communication and interpersonal relations are generally enhanced as the blind self becomes smaller.
In some traumatic areas of life, however, people cannot face the blind self; so revelations are best
dealt with cautiously or in the company of professional counselors and therapists.

The Unknown Self represents truths that exist but that neither we nor others know. Sometimes this
area contains items merely forgotten, and at other times it represents information repressed by the
individual. We will normally not learn the content of this quadrant, but it may reveal itself through
dreams, projective tests, hypnosis, or sensory deprivation.

The unknown is an important component of human experience, helping to keep us sane. As Alan
McGlashan (1967) comments, "If remembering is a vital function, so also is forgetting. To forget is
essential to sanity. Like a clumsy mother the huge inchoate body of past events, recalled in their
entirety, would overlay the infant mental life and suffocate it". It is normal to have a significant amount
of this unknown. If personal or psychological problems arise, however, a person may consult a
professional analyst to probe this area (the unconscious) that may contain information affecting
present behavior.

Utility of the Johari Window

Though Figure 2 portrays a window with four equal areas, the model is actually dynamic. As with any
system, a change in any of the quadrants brings about a change in all the other quadrants. The model
thus functions as a constant total area with variable sections. Figure 3 shows some variations within
the model.

According to Joseph Luft, the smaller the first quadrant, the poorer the communication, since
communication depends on the degree to which we open ourselves to others and to ourselves. If we
do not allow others to know us by keeping the open self small, communication between them and us
becomes more difficult. But the degree of openness depends on the circumstances. As shown in
Figure 3, if we are with a friend to whom we have opened up a great deal, our open self is large and
our hidden self is small. In contrast, if we are with a new employer whom we do not know well and with
whom we feel uncomfortable, our open self will be small and our hidden self large. Effective
managerial communication depends on promoting a climate that fosters appropriate openness in
communication.

The Johari Window gives us insight into how people communicate in organizations. What seems
obvious to a speaker may seem obscure to a listener because the speaker's obvious framework may
lie in the hidden self rather than in the open self, and the speaker may not realize that point.
Additionally, the confused look or retort, "Don't you realize what you just said?" may reflect the blind
self back to the speaker. In the writing process, my fundamental principle that "every writer needs an
editor" recognizes that authors may know correct form yet remain blind to the obvious errors on their
own printed page.

When we are working with others, the Johari Window gives us a framework for maneuvering--people
aren't backed into a right-wrong corner but move within changing perceptual frames. In organizations,
a supportive communication climate provides the foundation for enlarging our open selves as
necessary for effective communication.

Increasing Intrapersonal Awareness

Novelists and dramatists have frequently explored the intrapersonal domain through soliloquies that
reveal the intrapersonal thought process. The pioneering work of Freud and Jung broadened our
awareness of this dimension of intrapersonal communication by providing differing conceptual
schemas for study and understanding. More recently, popularizers of psychology have placed greater
emphasis on this realm of communication. "Pop" psychology and "self-help" books in particular focus
on this dimension from a variety of angles, usually associated with personal growth: meditation;
transcendental meditation; find the inner child; quiet reflection; personal journal writing; relaxation
techniques; yoga; brief psychotherapy; psychoanalysis; group therapy; spiritual direction; etc.

Rather than advocating any particular method or approach, I would just point out the growing
recognition of the significance of this area of self-awareness as a way to understand and reflect on our
"blind" self and to reduce the "hidden."

By definition, intrapersonal communication is personal, perhaps driven by our personality type or

personality profile. We may believe that the way we process information is unusual or unique and it
very well may be so. Beyond the way we communicate intrapersonally, the way we choose to focus on
our own internal process may vary, including but going beyond the methods listed above.

For understanding communication in organizations, however, we must recognize that this level exists
in ourselves and in others, and that all people differ in the way they process information and in the way
they analyze their own processes. Recognizing these differences and respecting them will prove
significant in how professional communicators view organizational communication, how they fulfill
communication roles in an organization, and how they help managers create a supportive climate for
effective communication.

REFERENCES

Asimov, Isaac. 1965. "The Eureka phenomenon." Reprinted in The world of science, Gladys
Leithauser and Marilynn Bell, eds, pp. 93-104. New York, NY: Holt, 1986.

Brown, Charles T., and Paul Keller. 1979. Monologue to dialogue: An exploration of interpersonal
communication, 2nd ed. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Johnson, John R. 1984. "The role of inner speech in human communication." Communication
Education 33, no. 3 (July):237-242.

Luft, Joseph, and Harrington Ingham. 1984. Group process: An introduction to group dynamics. Palo
Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishers.

McGlashan, Alan. 1967. The savage and beautiful country. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Citation Details

Title: Perspectives on the self in communication: the cognition continuum and the Johari Window.
(Special Issue: Advanced Technology.)
Author: Charles E. Beck
Publication: Technical Communication (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 1994
Publisher: Society for Technical Communication
Volume: v41 Issue: n4 Page: p753(4)