The New Johari Window #18. Quadrant One: Continental School of Thought Regarding Interpersonal Needs and Quad One General Implications
I turn now to a third perspective on Luft’s Quad One and then trace out general implications regarding Quad One and the diverse analyses I have provided regarding this quadrant of Joe Luft’s window.
The Continental School
When advocates for the Continental school approach Quadrant One, they observe neither the openness and the somewhat naïve authenticity of the American school nor the unawareness and depth of the British school. Rather the Continental perspective on Quad One concerns deception, fear and the exercise of power. In Continental Quad One we all wear masks (“persona”) and dance to the tunes that other, more powerful people play or request. We wear the mask and dance the tune because we are afraid.
The Continental school advocate asks only that we quit deceiving ourselves and acknowledge that we are wearing the mask and dancing to someone else’s tune. Courage comes from acknowledging these external determinants and not letting them dominate all aspects of our life and our sense of self: “you can make me wear the mask, but you can’t dictate what lies behind the mask or what I do when I remove the mask ‘behind closed doors.’” “You can make me dance, but you can’t make me enjoy the dance or identify myself as a dancer.” These Continental themes of power, control and courage play out in three sub-themes: (1) the social construction of reality, (2) the management of emotions and (3) the social construction of self.
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