Surface objectives are the obvious goals indicated by our actions. These would be fairly clear to an objective onlooker.
Hidden objectives, however, are much less obvious. An objective onlooker could only guess as to what a person's hidden objectives might be. It is important to note that hidden objectives are not necessarily bad - they are simply less obvious. Let's consider an example:
A young man compliments a friend on her new sweater. His surface objective is obviously to let his friend know that her sweater is appealing. His hidden objective is less obvious. It could be that he found the sweater attractive and he spoke his mind. It could be that he was sincerely interested in making his friend feel good. It could also be that he intends to ask his friend for help with his math homework later on, and he is trying to butter her up ahead of time! |
Consider some of the things you may have done recently. Did you have any hidden objectives? Don't answer right away! Take some time to think about this question. While you ponder this thought, read the poem found on the back of this page. When you are done reading the poem, return to answer the questions below.
1. What are some hidden objectives you often have when interacting with others?
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2. Are these hidden objectives related to building your self-esteem? If so, how?
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3. Would you be willing to create a role play which illustrates a typical surface objective as well as its associated hidden objective?
(This would require a fair degree of honesty and courage, so please do not jump into this exercise lightly.) If you do feel comfortable with
this exercise, get together with your group members and plan out your role play. You will get the opportunity to share this role play
with other groups later on. It will be interesting to see if their observation of your surface objectives will enable them to guess your
hidden objectives!
At Days End
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