Persona

​Persona is a face we present to others - a public identity or facade. It varies with the audience. The word comes directly from the Latin for a theatrical mask.

​Persona entrapment (Carl Jung’s term) occurs when an individual completely identifies with their social mask, confusing their external role with their true self. In the past, tt was associated with celebrities. Now we see it in ordinary people who mold their character to their social network identity.

​Some are less aware of their personas than others but surely no-one is ‘authentic’.

​Should we actively manage our personas? How do we find out how our personas are perceived by others? Is it deceitful to have different personas for our boss, our reports, our team, our family? Can pressure to perform result in persona entrapment?