Interpersonal Style and the Communication Dilemma: II. Utility of the Johari Awareness Model for Genotypic Diagnoses

Abstract

The Johari Awareness model of interpersonal processes was again employed as the theoretical framework for exploring the nature of communicative practices in human systems. From Hall's (1974) earlier series of studies of managerial use of the Exposure-Feedback processes in organizations and personalistic influences on communication effectiveness, the presence of several underlying sources of variance was suggested. The possible existence of genotypic factors - as opposed to the more commonly cited phenotypic effects which are manifested - was thought to have system-wide implications for communicative practices, particularly at the level of systems diagnosis. The present study was conducted to test for the presence of three underlying unmanifested genotypic influences on communication in organizations: (1) a security genotype, (2) a reciprocity genotype, and (3) a form-function genotype. Employing the Personnel Relations Survey and the Management Relations Survey as assessments of personal and collective use of the Johari processes of Exposure and Feedback, data were collected from 1,1 14 managers regarding the security genotype hypothesis, 200 subordinates of managers identified as relying on significantly different interpersonal styles as a test of the reciprocity genotype, and from 1,530 managers representing 13 different organizational types as an assessment of the formfunction genotype. Results from the several multivariate analyses conducted yielded strong support for both the existence and form of the genotypic forces hypothesized and confirmed the utility of the Johari Awareness model as a theoretical paradigm for genotypic diagnosis and research.