Self-perception theory and other perception theory assist us in obtaining feedback about ourselves and others in order to increase our interpersonal effectiveness. Feedback is the process of self-disclosing how you are reacting to a situation.

Interpersonal effectiveness can be defined as the degree to which our intentions match up with the consequences of our behavior.

According to Johnson [1] our interpersonal effectiveness depends upon large part on the feedback which we receive from others. The quality of feedback depends upon the amount of self-disclosure. Our interacting with others is a process whereby we observe, participate, and interpret our reactions and others.

Draw a Sociogram of your interpersonal relations. [ Be sure and send your diagram along with your commentary to your instructor to receive full credit for the assignment.] A sociogram ]is a diagram in which your interactions may be analyzed on the basis of attraction and repulsion. These interactions are in large part projections, i.e., attributions we ascribe to others. These patterns which emerge from our social atom tend to become interpersonal habit patterns. A favorite saying I once heard, goes something like this:

" When something happens once, it is an incident, when something happens twice it is a coincidence, when it happens more than twice it is a habit, and when it happens frequently it is a life style." -Unknown

If you would like a more in depth analysis, i.e., a socio-analysis, then try drawing your original (family) social atom i.e., the smallest number of figures to which you relate and feel are necessary for your psychological existence.

Place each figure according to how close, or distant, you feel they are in relationship to you.

Draw a circle to represent a female. Draw a triangle to represent a male and draw a square to represent an objects or an idea.

Place the figures as close to you, or far away, to represent the feeling you have toward them. Use size as to represent how large of influence the people, objects, or ideas have over you. Use arrows to represent a tele line. "Tele ( from the Greek: far, influence into distance) is feeling of individuals into one another, the cement which holds groups together.[1]

The arrow of the tele line which connects from one figure to another, or objects, is termed a positive tele. The arrow that does not connect toward one figure represents a negative tele. If both arrows are connected in the same direction then they are reciprocated. If both arrows are not reciprocated then they are incongruent.

For example, I drew my Social Atom to represent my life, as I now interpret it, when I was approximately 5 years old. See My Social Atom.

The size of my triangle is smaller in relationship to the other members of my family, since my sisters were older than I was at the time.[15, 12, and 9 respectively] I grouped the female figures on my left side and my father and the farm above me on the right side. My father and mother are much above me and the farm is large and high above me. Notice my arrows are going toward the figures as positive congruent tele but in two situations the tele lines are going away from me indicated as negative tele.

What self-disclosing questions would you me ask in reference to the interpersonal relationship from my Original Social Atom? What information seems, according to the Johari window, free to you? What information seems hidden? What questions might you ask to see if the information is blind to me? What are some questions you might ask to reveal some of the information which may be unknown ?

See the hyperlink for review of the Johari Window.

Draw your own Social Atom. Describe a situation when you were about 5 years old or as early as you can remember. Do you now see some patterns in your interpersonal relationships that may have not changed much since you were five years old? What did you learn about yourself? Explain and provide an example.

1. J.L. Moreno, Psychodrama,4th ed. First Volume, Beacon House, Inc. Beacon New York, 1972,p XI