Different models seek to explain communication and its role in shaping relationships. Johari’s window, developed in the 1950s by Harry Ingram and Joseph Luft, explains various levels of awareness that exist while communication happens. The framework comprises four quadrants that help identify what one knows about themselves and what others know about them. The four regions of understanding comprise the open area; this comprises anything that one knows about themselves and what they are willing to share with others.
The blind area entails anything that one does not know about themselves but other people are aware of. The third area is the hidden area, which comprises anything one knows about themselves and is unwilling to share with others. The last area is the unknown area which entails any aspect unknown to an individual or anyone else. This model is crucial in understanding one’s relationship with themselves and others as one interacts with them, thereby improving relations.
The social exchange theory by George Homans postulates that social behavior is the outcome of an exchange process. The exchange aims to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs. According to sociologists, people analyze the risks and benefits of social relationships. The theory helps one’s social or intimate relations by encouraging individuals to determine the worth of a relationship by weighing the benefits and the costs.
This theory is essential in informing one whether to keep or sustain a relationship or abandon the relationship. The uncertainty reduction theory was developed by Charles Berger and postulates that individuals need to reduce uncertainty regarding other people by obtaining information about them. The theory is crucial in one’s intimate relations as it helps alleviate uncertainty, making it possible for one to explain better and predict the other party’s behavior.