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PERSONA
The ︎ persona is the social mask we wear in public to present ourselves in a way we believe will be acceptable to others. It’s the part of our identity shaped by societal expectations. Jung said, “The ︎ persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is”. The tension between the ︎ persona and true self can often manifest in dreams.
We develop our personality not only so that it becomes rooted in our nature but also so that it is adequate to the social and environmental demands around us. Jung named this socially adapted aspect of the personality “︎ persona”. The origin of this Latin word goes back to the masks worn by actors in antiquity. The mask, or ︎persona, looks like ourselves, but it is largely influenced by the outer world; therefore, it is a kind of compromise between the individual and society. ︎ Persona is how we appear to other people and how we want to be seen by other people. We have various personae during our lifetime, according to each developmental phase, our gender identity, social status, and so on.