Dr. Rita Karmakar

Self-awareness is the capacity for introspection and the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and other individuals.

To build your self-confidence, it is essential to improve and understand ourselves, especially our feelings, our inherent weaknesses and our latent capabilities i.e. self-awareness. Goleman (1996) argued that self-confidence comes from within. The more you know yourself, the more you understand yourself, the more you will become self confident. It will also develop your personal drive for improvement and further development. c

Johari window is a frame work of two famous psychologists JOSEPH LUFT AND HARRY INGHAM” in 1950s and the word JOHARI is derived by their first name. The Johari window is a simple tool for making sense of who we are

  What you see in meWhat you do not see in

me

What I see in me The Open SelfThe Private (or

hidden) Self

What I do not see in me The Blind Self The Unknown Self

•What is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by others - open area, open self, free area, free self, or 'the arena'.

•What is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others know - blind area, blind self, or 'blind spot'.

•What the person knows about him/herself that others do not know - hidden area, hidden self, avoided area, avoided self or 'facade'.

•What is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others – unknown area or unknown self.

Four personasAssociated with the Johari Window, we can define four different personas, based on which 'self' is the largest for each individual.

Rogers (1961) defined self-acceptance as unconditional positive regard for oneself, including one’s experiences, thoughts, feelings, and very being. According to Shepard (1979), self-acceptance is an individual's satisfaction or happiness with himself, Self acceptance involves self-understanding and awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses.

High self-acceptance is characterized by having a positive attitude toward oneself, acknowledging and accepting multiple aspects of self (both the positive and the negative), and being positive about past (Ryff, 1989). Low self-acceptance is characterized by feeling dissatisfied with oneself and disappointed with past

There are important aspects of self acceptance 1. Self-acceptance is acceptance of self in spite of deficiencies2. Self-acceptance is thought to be necessary for good mental

health3. Self-acceptance is considered the catalyst for positive changes

in our lives

1.Having deeper, more meaningful relationships

2.Developing a sense of purpose3.Accepting one’s own limitations 4.Increasing your sense of satisfaction,

peace5.Developing a holistic purpose in life

Self-acceptance implies accepting own strengths as well as weaknesses unconditionally. Most of us dwell consistently on our limitations which diminish our self-esteem and self-confidence and thereby affect our self-acceptance.

Self-awareness is the ability to know and understand ourselves, especially our feelings, our inherent weaknesses and our latent capabilities where we need to improve or change. Through awareness we can effectively carry out our personal development.

Self-realization helps in understanding one’s own efforts, potentialities and overcoming personal weaknesses. It involves rational and impartial observation of your own emotional and mental states and identifying the possibilities of personal development.

Relationship among three concepts: 1. Lower levels of self-realization and self-acceptance affect self-awareness

because there exists relationship between self-awareness, realization and self-acceptance.

2. When self-acceptance exists, it is easier for the person to become self-aware.

3. To become more self-accepting, people need to increase their self-awareness.

4. Increasing your self-awareness means acknowledging and experiencing your emotions, as well as intellectually understanding yourself.

Some research findings also reveal the relationship among all these concepts. These are as follows:

a. Rogers (1961) proposed that self-acceptance makes self-awareness more possible.

b. Self acceptance and awareness are responsible for high quality interpersonal relationships (Vingoe, 1967).

c. Self-awareness allows for one to become more self-accepting. On the other hand, self acceptance is an aspect of self realization (Ryff and Keyes, 1995).

Self-realization is defined as the fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality.The three dimensions of self-realization are personal dimension, individual dimension and universal dimension