Expanding the Johari Windows to Describe Interpersonal Communication

During the past 40 years considerable focus has been placed on the Johari Window (Luft, 1984), a tool designed to understand the process of self-disclosure and to increase self-awareness of the conscious and unconscious knowledge of self. Typically, a single, four quadrant model is employed to achieve these goals. The present paper offers an expansion to the application of the original model. Rather than a single model representing two interactants, two interlinked windows are recommended. This change provides a unique window for each interactant participating in the communication process. The window for each interactant has three unique quadrants (i.e., Blind, Hidden, and Unknown) and a shared Open quadrant. The proposed modification to the original Johari Window model illustrate more clearly the transactional nature of self-disclosure and provide the means to quantify and analyze the reciprocal awareness resulting from self-disclosure. These benefits offer a more sophisticated basis for instruction and research.