Specifically, I would suggest that there is a prevalent process associated with the New Johari Window that might best be described as a psychic echo. This process builds directly on the fundamental dynamics of projection and introjection that is found in the British School. The psychic echo involves the interplay between ourselves and the people with whom we interact. The psychic echo involves four steps.
Step One: I believe I am something or someone (“I am beautiful.” “I am smart.” “I am brave.”) This is often connected to my own Q4.
Step Two: I believe that other people see me and admire me because of this image of who I am (“He is attracted to me because I am beautiful.” “She listens to me and is influenced by me because I am smart.” “They [my troops] follow me into battle because I am brave.”)
Step Three: I project this belief onto other people and act in a manner that conveys an expectation that they will see me this way. This projection is increasingly likely to be successful if the other person or group is looking for someone to play this role (role suction) and if the other person or other members of the group are willing (even eager) to isolate their own comparable traits (beauty, wisdom, courage) and assign them to another person (in this case, me).
Step Four: The original self-image is confirmed and reinforced through the actions and even feedback (Q2) from the people around me. This “psychic echo” further intensifies and verifies my self-image, often making it even more extreme and even more invulnerable to dis-confirmation. I become even more beautiful, smart or brave in my own eyes and the eyes of other people. This is a self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing cycle—the psychic echo!
I am most likely to get back my own projections if I am powerful, famous, or charismatic. In this case, the projected and re-internalized self moves from Q1 to Q2 and back to Q1.
