What is the Johari window?

The Johari window is a simple four-part model of what you and other people know about you. It sorts what is going on in a relationship by two questions: do you know it, and do others know it? The four panes that result give you a handy way to think about openness, blind spots and trust.

It was created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, who first presented it at a training laboratory in 1955. The name comes from joining their first names. Luft later said they were surprised by how many people picked it up and started tinkering with it. It is easy to see why: you can sketch it on a napkin and be talking about something real in a minute.

The four panes

Picture a window with four panes. One axis runs from "known to me" to "not known to me". The other runs from "known to others" to "not known to others".

The open area: known to you, known to others

This is the shared part of you. It might include how you like to work, that you get chatty when you are excited, or that you hate being late. Conversation is easy here, because nobody has to guess.

The blind area: not known to you, known to others

This is where others can see things you are not aware of. Perhaps you go quiet when you are annoyed and don't notice. Perhaps you are far more reassuring in a crisis than you realise.

People often assume this pane holds only bad news. It doesn't. A lot of what others see and you miss is good: warmth, steadiness or a sense of humour you take for granted.

The hidden area: known to you, not known to others

These are the things you know and keep to yourself. Some of that is healthy privacy. You don't owe everyone everything. Some of it may be worry or doubt you hide out of habit, even when sharing it would make life easier.

The unknown area: not known to you, not known to others

This pane holds what neither you nor anyone around you has noticed yet. It might include a talent that has never been tested, or a reaction you have never had a reason to have. Luft treated it as likely to be larger and more influential than a simple sketch suggests.

How the window changes over time

The panes are not fixed. Luft described how the open area starts small in a new group, because there is not much free and easy interaction yet. As the group matures and trust grows, the open area tends to get bigger, and there is less need to hide things.

That is the most practical idea in the model. You can widen your open area in two ways:

• Share a little more, which moves things from hidden to open.
• Ask for a little more, which moves things from blind to open.

Both take some courage, and both tend to go better in small steps.

Is there any research behind it?

The Johari window is a teaching model, not a tested measure, and it is worth being plain about that. It helps you think. It does not give you a score, and it was not designed to.

Its central idea does have support from later research. Simine Vazire and Erika Carlson reviewed the evidence on what others can see in us. They report that self-perceptions are largely accurate, yet have important omissions. They point to two likely reasons: a simple lack of information, and our natural wish to see ourselves a certain way. Others can perceive some aspects of personality better than the self can, especially traits that are very desirable or undesirable.

Timothy Wilson and Elizabeth Dunn make a related point in their review of self-knowledge. Much of the mind is not available to introspection, and looking at yourself through others' eyes is one way to learn more. They also note that this route has obstacles of its own. Other people can be polite, and we can be selective in what we hear.

If you want the fuller picture, read how accurately people rate themselves.

How to use the Johari window in real life

You don't need a workshop or a facilitator. Try this with one person you trust.

1. Draw the four panes. Keep it rough. Nobody will grade your drawing.
2. Fill in your open area. Write three things you are sure the other person knows about you.
3. Pick one hidden thing to share. Choose something small and useful, such as "I go quiet when I am thinking, not when I am cross".
4. Ask for one blind-spot observation. "What is something I do well that I might not notice?" is a gentle way to begin.
5. Say thanks and stop there. You don't need to agree or explain. Sit with it for a day.

Our guide on asking for honest feedback has more wording you can borrow.

What gets in the way

Asking face to face has a known catch: people soften things. A friend who loves you may not want to say that you interrupt. That is kindness, and it also means your blind area stays blind. Anonymity and averaging can help, because no single person has to carry the message.

That is one reason Second Sight works the way it does. Raters in your friends, family and co-worker circles are anonymous, and you only see their answers as averages with at least two other raters. The Partner circle is a named, one-to-one comparison instead, and your partner is told this before they rate.

See your own window

The Johari window gives you the idea. Measuring it gives you something concrete to talk about. Start with your own self-view on the Core Personality Expedition, which is free to take with no sign-up. Then see where others agree with you, and where they notice something you don't.