In this particular blog post, I will be focusing on three main concepts: Johari Window, Kinesics, and Silence. I will be defining them, applying them to my personal life, and posting a little something that may help to illustrate the concept.
Johari Window:
Johari Window is a model that was created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram. It's purpose was to show how different things form our self-development. The Johari Window is divided into four categories: Open area, Hidden area, Blind area, and Unknown area.
Open area refers to the areas that we ourselves know about, as well as others knowing that information.
Hidden area is the area of ourselves that we keep under wraps. It may be a "dirty little secret" or an embarrassing moment in our lives.
Blind area if the portion of Johari window that shows what people know about us that we may not know about ourselves. This could be a talent that people see that we have or an observation about our behavior that we are so accustomed to that we don't realize that we do it.
Unknown area is just that: unknown. It can be as simple as not knowing what the future holds.
Different people can have different sized "windows." Their hidden area may be the largest area, or another may have a very large open area, with very little in hidden, and so on.
Johari window applies to everyone, but as far as personal application, I can give an example of each area.
For me, open area is my name, major, who my family is, and what my jobs are. Hidden area is comprised of many things, but one would be that I used to be home-schooled (so now, in this case, that information would be moved to the open area.)
A friend recently gave me a perfect example of blind area. He said that if we are walking and I get mad at him, I will stop walking. This helps to illustrate my being upset with him. He further discussed this with my best friend, and it apparently is a behavior that I do engage in without formerly noticing it.
As far as hidden area, the one example I could give is not knowing the future. I do not know which graduate school I will attend, or if I will at all. I don't know who I'll marry or how many children I will have. These things fall into the hidden area for the time being.
The next concept I will be explaining is kinesics.
Kinesics is basically our body language, including the face.
As this is nonverbal, it can reveal many things about who we are, as well as who we may be trying to portray ourselves as in a certain moment. It is not necessarily only nonverbal though. We can be using kinesics to accent the things we are saying. One example Julia Wood's book Interpersonal Communication gives is speaking with your hands. Italians are often assumed to always be talking and gesturing with their hands. This brings up the importance of cultural awareness. In other cultures, one gesture that you may find innocent enough may translate over to something vulgar or offensive.
The speed and frequency of our gestures or body movements can indicate certain things as well. If we are speaking and moving our hands quickly, we may seemed hurried or pressed for time. If you add a frowning face, you may assume that the person is angry, even if you do not hear their conversation. Our body language (kinesics) can communicate what we mean accurately, or it can be misleading (intensionally, or not). The following clip illustrates that:
A personal example of this in my life would be in my Communication 330 class. When I don't know the answer to a question that my professor is asking, I will look down to indicate that I do not want to answer, hoping that he will not call on me. Another example would be when I am talking to someone that I don't enjoy being around. I communicate this by backing away or rocking back and forth. I may cross my arms or glance around at other things. These are all kinesics- from the facial expressions to the obvious body movements.
The last concept I will be discussing is silence.
Silence is a powerful tool. Silence is, obviously, a nonverbal behavior.
It can easy communicate that we are angry with someone, or that we are tired or cranky. It can say that things are weird between two parties, or it can be an indicator that all is well because silence can be comfortable in certain relationships. Silence also varies by culture. In some cases, silence is a way of being polite, whereas in other cultures to not speak up may be rude or awkward. Silence may vary by religion, family, and romantic relationship.
One way silence has been used is my life is to indicate when I am angry. At times, I will choose not to say anything, not talk to a friend first, because I am trying to send a nonverbal message that I am upset.
At other times in my life, silence has meant that I am comfortable with someone. My best friend and I do not always have to be talking when we are hanging out, we can sit in silence without it being awkward or uncomfortable. The meaning of silence really does differ by relationship and situation.
If you had to pick which part of the Johari Window that mainly fits your on a day to day basis, which one would it be? And why?
ReplyDeleteI guess mine would be the open area, though it does depend on who I am around at the time. I can be very open with some people, and closed off with others. But for general purposes, I'll say open.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's a good thing that you are more open. People who are more open, in my opinion, are more approachable and welcoming to a conversation, such as this!
ReplyDeleteIn regards to kinesics, in your personal life has there been a time where someone or even yourself have been guilty of misleading someone with body language?
Being open definitely may help to have more welcoming conversations!
ReplyDeleteHmm, it's definitely possible. There have been times when I was perhaps upset with a person and if they went to give me a hug or something, I may have hugged back, but with much less enthusiasm than I normally would hug them.
I see how the hug could have been misleading, especially since you actually upset.
ReplyDeleteI agree a hidden area that you thought. We don't know about our feature and we have a curiosity with future. do you have considering your future deeply?
ReplyDeleteSilence may have a advantage or disadvantage that you said. Have you ever been a bad experience about silence?
ReplyDelete