Madison Burton

6/14/17 SP 120
Communication and Identity: Creating and Presenting the Self

One’s self-concept is their ideas of themselves based upon the beliefs they have about
themselves and the opinions (and messages) from others, as well as how they compare socially
with the individuals surrounding them. An individual's characteristics can originate from an array
of factors. Although one’s self-concept develops over time, one’s self-concept often “resists
change.” Many factors come to play in one’s self-concept, such as one’s culture, background,
gender, ethnicity, etc and can be modified through “self-fulfilling prophecies.” “Impression
management” goes into play within any form of communication, where one can influence
another’s interpretation of a person, place, thing, or idea by controlling the information they
receive. This is where the phrase “two-faced” can play a role, as one can present multiple faces
to others in order to influence the other’s perceptions of them. However, just because each
person has an assortment of faces that they can reveal, it isn’t necessarily dishonest and is a
normal part of human life. Through this, as well as managing your “manner, appearance, and the
settings in which [you] interact with others,” you can shape your identity and create your
self-image as well as ideas and emotions associated with it.
An important challenge in people’s relationships is self-disclosure. The Johari Window,
as well as the social penetration model, (shown below) is a tool for “describing our
self-disclosure with others”:

The Johari Window Model Known To Self Not Know To Self

Known To Others Arena Blind Spot

Not Know To Others Hidden Area Unknown

“Communicators disclose personal information for a variety of reasons and benefits: catharsis,
reciprocity, self-clarification, self-validation, impression management, relationship maintenance
and enhancement, and social influence. The risks of self-disclosure include the possibility of
rejection, making a negative impression, a decline in relational satisfaction, a loss of influence,
and hurting the other person.” There are, as so far determined, four alternatives to self-disclosure.
These are, silence, lying, equivocating (using ambiguous language/messaging to conceal one’s
true meaning and intentions), and hinting. Which alternative(s) you choose to use depends on the
motives of the communicator(s) and what goal(s) they are attempting to achieve.
These concepts can be viewed multiple times within any individuals life experiences.
Within the first month or so of my freshman year at New Technology High School, each student
was encouraged to identify their internal and external masks and ideas associated with them. It
was a very educating experience about the multiple masks each individual carries and puts up. I
was able to take a glance at, how in my own life, what masks I use for different situations but
how each one is a factor and goes into play of creating my identity, both with myself and the
community. Since then, I have identified different characteristics of my masks, whether
dependant on the setting, the people, my emotions, their emotions, etc. It is very interesting, to
me, to notice other people’s masks as well and see how they use their masks over time as well as
how their different masks evolve based upon experiences these people have had, their changing
beliefs, and the opinions of others.