3-1 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 3 3 Self-Awareness and Self-Disclosure

3-3 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Self-Awareness The two most important elements in human relations are:  Self-awareness  Self-disclosure McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-4 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Barriers to Effective Human Relations McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Many people spend their lives building walls.  They develop traits such as secrecy, dishonesty, or other defenses to prevent people from determining their true thoughts and motives.

3-5 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Johari Window McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  The Johari Window illustrates how everyone shares four ways of relating to others. pp. 62  The open pane  The hidden pane  The blind pane  The unknown pane continued

3-6 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Johari Window continued McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  The open pane contains information that you know about yourself and that you have no reason to hide from most other people.  The hidden pane contains information and feelings that you are hiding from other people. continued

3-7 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Johari Window continued McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  The blind pane contains everything other people can see about you, but you can’t see about yourself. 64  The unknown pane contains all of the experiences, feelings, fantasies, and possibilities that people repress. 65

3-8 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Johari Window continued McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Solicit Feedback 1 Open 4 Unknown 3 Hidden 2 Blind Give Feedback (self-disclose) SOURCE: Joseph Luft, Groups Process: Introduction to Group Dynamics (Palo Alto, CA: National Press, 1970)

3-9 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Self-Disclosure McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Self-disclosure allows people to know themselves and those around them better.

3-10 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Failure to Self-Disclose McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Loss of relationships Waste of time and money Loss of sense of identity Slowdown of personal growth

3-11 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Levels of Disclosure McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 Cliché conversation 4 Reporting the facts of others 3 Expressing ideas and judgments 2 The “gut level” 1 Peak communication

3-12 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. A Look at Level 1: Peak Communication  The spiritual, emotional, and aesthetic high points of Level 1 do not happen very often.  When they do, they create memories that help sustain us during ordinary non-peak times.

3-13 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. A Key to Improved Human Relations—Level 2  Making the gut level work for you is a key step in the process of learning to self- disclose. In work environments, such benefits translate into greater efficiency and productivity throughout the organization. continued

3-14 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. A Key to Improved Human Relations—Level 2 continued The primary benefits are:  Improving relationships.  Growing toward maturity.  Bringing out the honesty in others.

3-15 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Making Assumptions About Other People  Another dimension of both self-awareness and self-disclosure is the way so many people operate on perceptions or hunches they have about each other.  Remember to clear up hunches both by working on your own self-awareness and self-disclosure and by encouraging self- disclosure from others.

3-16 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Risk Factor  After you accept self-disclosure as a productive behavior, you may run into another barrier: fear. continued

3-17 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. The Risk Factor continued Your fears could include:  Losing control of a conversation or relationship.  Becoming trapped or controlled by someone else.  Losing self-respect.  Appearing to be a loser to others.  Being rejected or being belittled.

3-18 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strategy for Success 3.1: Know when to stop 1. Understand that self-disclosure can be difficult and awkward at first. 2. Be aware that you can overdisclose unintentionally. 3. Learn how to avoid overdisclosure, especially with strangers or in the workplace. 4. Learn how to self-disclose comfortably and appropriately.

3-19 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strategy for Success 3.2: Pay Attention to Differences 1. Know how much to disclose and how soon. 2. Remember: Different cultures, different disclosure. 3. Allow for the other person to take the lead. 4. Factor in gender, race, and social position. 5. Pay attention to the other person’s level of openness.

3-20 McGraw-Hill/Irwin Human Relations, 3/e © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Strategy for Success 3.3: Facing Fear 1. Start with the worst possible scenario. 2. Prepare yourself to accept the worst possible outcome. 3. Proceed with a plan.

Chapter 3 3 End of Chapter 3