People Wear Different Masks when in the presence of other people

Hi ajpa...as strange as it may sound...I don't wear a mask at any time. I trully believe in being exactly who you are..I am who I am and it is exactly that...People who pretend to be someone other than themselves are phony and fake..I think its much betterto be yourself and it the person who you meet or chat with has the option of liking what they see or not. I would think being more than one person and wearing different mask would be confusing at times..Its easy to be real and you don't have to remember who you are from time to time...FORGET THE MASK!!! BE REAL!!!

For me wearing masks is not a matter of being fake. You just adjust to the situation and try to hide a piece of you. I have a closed friend, but she shouldn't know everything about me. It's a matter of having fence in your private life, but not necessary building a wall.

In a way we are almost required to wear different masks. I cannot obviously be too silly when I am on the job. Obviously I am not going to behave the same around a group of adults as I would if I was hosting my child's birthday party. I think the key is not to be fake about any of it. I try to behave appropriately to the situation but not be a fake person. Hope that makes sense.

I try to be true to myself around everyone. My actions have been known to change upon ocassion though. I am more reserved when in a more reserved setting and more free in a relaxed setting. I think that each situation is unique and as long as you can be respectful no matter what just be yourself wherever you are and with everyone.

That depends on the situation. When I am in the middle of strangers, in a party with people whom I do not know well. I need to act accordingly and appropriate with the situation. I do not want to act ignorant or too bossy...just be simple and dance with the music as the saying goes.

Role playing is part of our adaptive behaviour. We are 'living' playing so many roles as we go with our lives. One could be as reserve as possible like when dealing with bosses but act casually with friends. In short, we adapt accordingly to the people we deal or situation we're into. As for me, my role interchanges from being a mother, a businesswoman, a friend and other roles in between. But in everything I do I make sure that the "mask" I wear is appropriate to the person I am dealing with.

My personality remains the same, but in different situations I express different parts of my personality. When I was working as a nurse and had a serious conversation with a patient I didn't joke about the situation, I talked to the patient in a serious way. In the breaks I could laugh and joke with the other nurses, but it would have been disrespecful to do the same when I was discussing the worries of a terminal ill patient. My mask depends on the situation and it depends on the people that I talk to. I talk to my husband a different way than a talk to a stranger, because my husband and I know eachother very well. I talk to my brother in a different way than I talk to my friends, because my brother and I have a special way of joking etc.

I think that point is true for many. Whether we mean to or not, I think that we project different images to different groups. In fact, I think that many of us when in our work lives, wear a mask of being professional, when we are anything but. Yet, it is something that we must do to advance. Say all you want about being yourself, but that is going to be something that is going to work against you a lot of the time in the world of business. Masks are worn in many forms. Some of them, the best mask is not the one that we wear on our face. Rather the face that we wear, the smile that we wear, that hides any kind of pain and agony that we might be having. There are going to be many times where people have gotten that little act down to a tee, where they are going to really smile more often than not to hide the pain, as opposed to show their happiness. Yet the masks we wear are differing and some there are many, while others there might be one.

I think most of us do that. It depends on the person and situation we arin. For example if you're with your friends certainly you will act normal and comfortable because you are familiar with the people around you. And if you're with someone who you just met, well expect a different reaction at first but as you get along you might show the real you.