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Johari Window Assignment

Due: ______________

LEARNING OUTCOMES ASSESSED:
INFORMATION LITERACY, CRITICAL THINKING, AND COMMUNICATION

The Johari Window is an exercise on self-perception and the perception others have of you. It
may feel uncomfortable to ask others for their opinions of you, but most students find this
assignment rewarding in the end.

1. Write down 10 adjectives about YOU. It is important that you do this first.

2. Ask 10 people who know you to also write down 10 adjectives that describe you. It is best
to ask people who know you from different contexts: family members, friends, coworkers,
colleagues from school, relatives, etc.

3. Your Johari Window should contain of 3 parts: the list of words sorted by person, the
Johari Window itself, and the reflection.

4. Part 1: Compile ALL adjectives into one document. You should have 110 adjectives total.
List them by the person who gave them to you, but keep the list anonymous. Instead of
names, use descriptors like “Family member 1”, “Friend 1”, “Friend 2”, “Colleague”, etc.

5. Part 2: Sort all adjectives into the Johari Window based on whether they match your own
list or not.
OPEN: put all words that are on your list AND at least on one other list. Use duplicate
words only once.
HIDDEN: put all remaining words that are only on your list. The “Open” and “Hidden”
boxes together should contain all your 10 words, but no more/less.
BLIND: put all remaining words from your family’s and friends’ list. Use duplicate words
only once.
UNKNOWN: stays blank

6. Part 3. Write a 500-word reflection. Analyze the distribution of words and discuss your
experience. This is the main part of the assignment and worth the most points.
What does the distribution of words tell you?
Does it indicate high or low self-awareness? Why?
Does it indicate high or low self-esteem? Why?
Which words had many repetitions?
Did your loved ones all describe a similar “you” or did their descriptions differ depending
on the context from which they knew you? (For example, coworkers described you
differently from friends, etc.)
How was your overall experience? Positive? Negative? Uncomfortable? Surprising? Why?

See reverse for a sample Johari Window.

Person List of Adjectives
Myself Adventurous, moody, optimistic, honest, witty, persistent, kind, deep, intelligent,

ambitious

Mother Honest, loyal, sensitive, friendly, moody, intelligent,

quick-witted, giving, spiritual

Father Family-oriented, intelligent, ambitious, loving, moody, grateful, adventurous, funny,

beautiful, honest

Brother Adventurous, outgoing, fun, funny, compassionate, intelligent, hardworking,
responsible, annoying,

Friend 1 Loud, spontaneous, daring, restless, adventurous, intelligent, kind, funny, responsible
Friend 2 Adventurous, caring, brave, determined, intelligent, family-oriented, witty, unique,

gorgeous, trusting

Friend 3 Intelligent, adventure seeker, beautiful, conservative, modest, family-oriented, humble

Cousin Caring, loving, smart, ambitious, outgoing, confident, talented, adventurous, selfless

Friend 4 Happy, friendly, adventurous, ambitious, courageous, beautiful, silly, responsible,
intelligent, strong

Friend 5 Fun, funny, smart, curious, sweet, hardworking, optimistic, outgoing, loud, helpful
Brother Adventurous, funny, fun, smart, annoying, kind, loving, beautiful, hardworking, loud

Johari Window
Open Self

Adventurous, moody,

optimistic, honest,

witty, kind, intelligent,

ambitious

Blind Self

Funny, fun, annoying, loving, beautiful, hardworking, responsible,

curious, outgoing, loud, helpful, happy, friendly, courageous, silly,

strong, caring, loving, confident, talented, selfless, conservative, modest,

family-oriented, humble, brave, determined, unique, trustworthy,

spontaneous, daring, restless, compassionate, grateful, loyal, sensitive,

quick-witted, giving, spiritual

Hidden Self
Persistent, deep

Unknown Self

Reflection
The overall project was quite interesting. I had never done anything like this before and it was neat to be able

to see myself through other people’s eyes. As I analyzed the results, I realized that most qualities were repeated

throughout my friends and family members. Additionally, most of the adjectives had a positive connotation. This made

me see myself in a more positive light, because I usually tend to be very critical about myself and miss the favorable

qualities that others see in me. Words that were used to describe me included humble, brave, determined, unique and

trustworthy; qualities which I failed to see in myself.

The distribution of words told me that I have relatively high self-awareness (8 out of my 10 words were also

used by my friends and family to describe me), as well as relatively high self-esteem (the words in the “Hidden Self”

box were neutral or positive in connotation). I am happy with this outcome and feel secure in myself.

Through this assignment, I realized that for the most part my friends and family members do know the same

“me”. Most of the adjectives, such as ambitious, adventurous, and intelligent, were repeated among the people’s

responses. I think this goes to show that I am true to myself with everyone I meet and I don’t change the way I act

depending on who I speak to. However, when I am in a more formal setting, such as when speaking to a professor or

boss. In these instances, I tend to be more serious and not the “loud” and “restless” person I am described to be.

Overall, I learned not be so critical of myself. I constantly fear that I am not the kind-hearted person that I

strive to be, especially because I can sometimes become moody and say things that I don’t quite mean. However,

despite my mood swings, my family members and friends still see me as a caring and thoughtful individual. Therefore,

I need to learn to give myself more credit. I am human, and sometimes I will get angry and sad; sometimes I will mess

up. But these mistakes do not define me. Instead, it is the way I deal with and learn from them that does.

ALL words
sorted

into the
window.

List of
adjectives
sorted by

person. Keep it
anonymous.

“Open” and
“Hidden” boxes

must contain
YOUR 10 words

500-word reflection.
Answer questions on

page 1.