The outside of the concentric circle is our public self and is most likely to change depending on how we receive our feedback that affects our self-esteem. Another factor is how we as an individual read non-verbal feedback. This is called the ‘looking glass theory’. This theory was created by Gerbner and suggests to some extent that we only ‘see’ what we want to see (self denial?).
Low self-esteem can bring an uncertainty to our perception altering the way we would conduct ourselves and the way we think of ourselves (ideal self). The lower our self-esteem the less likely we are to disclose as much information as we might otherwise about ourselves as we fear we will be judged therefore preventing us from showing our ideal self when communicating.
Whilst high self-esteem has the opposite affect and we tend to open up when communicating. In a state of high esteem we are more likely to reveal our true self and show the attributes that we connect with our ideal self. Ideal self plays a key role as a gatekeeper to the information that we will and won’t disclose about ourselves.
This relationship with disclosure and feedback is portrayed in the ‘Johari Window’ diagram by Luft and Ingham (1955). It shows the self image relationship with ourselves and other people. The diagram is organised into four windows that record self-image in terms of information available to ourselves and others.
It is about self-disclosure as an effective response to feedback. Engaging in interpersonal communication is about further opening readily available information (open area) whilst adjusting our more intimate and private thoughts (hidden area) and/or that others can see but not yourself (blind area). This blind area is linked to the ‘looking glass theory’ because we can manipulate our response whilst feedback is information that we are only partly aware of.
The way in which we respond is directly linked to our self-esteem as we tend to disclose more when we have a high self-esteem linking self-esteem back to the ‘Johari Window’ theory as it determines how much information we consciously/unconsciously disclose.
But self-disclosure is not the only defensive measure known to our self-concept (which is our self-esteem and ideal self). We are theoretically vulnerable to responses whilst communicating. We have strategies to counteract this effect that responses can cause this is called the ‘dissonance theory’.
Our ideal self and self-esteem are under constant assault everyday from the real world and other people. Our ideal self is often linked to our public self and the higher our self-esteem, the more likely that our public self and our core self will be similar. If our self-esteem is low, the differential between our core self and public self (ideal self?) will be greater. This is portrayed in ‘Roger’s Concentric Circle model’.
But is this self-core fixed or is our personality a flexible notion, as culture and society has a bigger influence on us? Turner’s model of intrapersonal communication shows us that our personality can be greatly affected by feedback. This feedback can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, which can be negative or positive. This highlights the important role that feedback plays in our personality.
We value our certain behaviours or personality traits that are not seen as important by others. “But on the whole what we esteem represents a fair measure of agreement with what other people esteem” (Between ourselves by Graeme Burton and Richard Dimbleby). We start to value and weigh up our attributes about ourselves and decide if we approve or disapprove of theses aspects our personality. Thus showing that self-esteem can alter our way of thinking and communicating.
Ideal self is how we see ourselves and is not how anyone else particularly sees us. Again we value our traits but we automatically think of ourselves showing these desirable traits when we communicate as we think of ourselves automatically becoming our ideal selves which have these desirable traits. “The way in which we catagorize ourselves also depends upon on how we believe that we are catagorized by others” (Between ourselves by Graeme Burton and Richard Dimbleby). Proving that our ideal self is influenced by others indicates that however private we are we must have a dynamic relationship with the outside world to construct an ideal self.
Our self-esteem and ideal-self are constantly altering our personality and the way in which we communicate. It also changes our outlook on life and how we react to the environment around us.
