What Is Masking? 3 Examples of Personality Masking

The term “masking” refers to the propensity people feel to hide their emotions or personality traits in specific situations.

In many cases, a set of learned behaviors goes on to comprise a person’s masking habits. People experience rejection or bullying at a young age and modify the way they express themselves for an extended period afterward, potentially through the rest of their lives. Increased stress, depression, and anxiety are just some of the potential effects of masking. In extreme cases, some people develop personality disorders as well.

Masking is especially common among people with autism spectrum conditions. This is largely because autistic adults often feel more social pressure to mask their true personalities. The same goes for autistic children even at a very young age.

Masking manifests in various ways for different people. Here are just three common examples of how you might hide your true identity:

1. 1. Changing how you express yourself: Altering communication patterns is one of the primary outward ways people mask who they are. You might change your body language, tone of voice, or facial expressions around specific people or in certain situations. Perhaps you try to force yourself to make more or less eye contact depending on the person.
2. 2. Hiding your authentic self: Masking behavior obscures your natural personality. For example, in certain social situations, you might pretend to like different things than you actually do to fit in. Perhaps you find yourself laughing at jokes you don’t find funny. When it comes to autism masking specifically, people with the condition might feel they need to hide the entirety of their true selves in every social interaction they have.
3. 3. Making light of your distress: Humor can act as a protective shield against bullying and social discomfort. You might feel the urge to self-deprecate whenever you’re in the limelight. For instance, maybe you jokingly refer to yourself as a “loser” because you’re afraid someone else might call you that earnestly first. Pretending to feel positive emotions rather than negative ones is another prominent form of masking.

People mask their emotions for all sorts of reasons. Consider these three:

• Economic necessity: People feel the urge to conform to social pressures especially when their job relies on it. This can lead to neurodivergent people trying to act more neurotypical or to people with disabilities attempting to hide when they’re struggling.
• Relationship dynamics: In unhealthy relationships, people engage in a lot of social camouflaging and masking to keep the other person happy. Particularly when you’ve been through verbal, emotional, or physical abuse, masking can feel like a survival mechanism.
• Social acceptance: No matter what the specific context, a desire for acceptance usually lies at the root of most types of masking. Human beings want to feel they belong, and they might become people-pleasers to do so. For example, someone might rigidly adhere to gender norms if they live in a society dedicated to maintaining those gender differences, even if they feel that’s not their true identity.

When you mask yourself, the world loses out on a truly authentic person. Keep these three tips in mind as you strive to overcome masking:

• Advocate for change. Do your part to work toward a society in which everyone feels safe being who they are. Celebrate neurodiversity and atypical personality traits. Accept people whose social behaviors might strike you as uncommon at first. While each person’s mask might be unique, the desire to live authentically and free of judgment is universal.
• Learn to accept yourself. Realize even the most confident people wear masks on occasion—it’s human nature to want acceptance. Grant yourself grace for wearing a mask in certain social interactions. Achieving self-acceptance is a long journey, and you’ll have a far better chance of getting to it if you go easy on yourself.
• Speak to a mental health professional. Find a qualified therapist who can help you work through your propensity to mask, overcome your fears, and live more authentically. Therapy can help you learn the root causes of your low self-esteem, perfectionist tendencies, and masking behaviors.

Autism masking refers to masking behavior by people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) specifically. While masking is common among all types of people, those with an autism diagnosis might feel an even greater burden of pressure to conform to the demands of a neurotypical society.

For example, they might have to expend a huge amount of energy trying to mute common autistic traits like stimming. Psychologists consider camouflaging autism (or autism masking) worthy of its own classification.

Figuring out what you want to do next and how to get there? Learn how to embrace your passions with a MasterClass Annual Membership and find the grit to take control of your life with exclusive access to video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Robin Arzón, Elaine Welteroth, Hillary Rodham Clinton, RuPaul, and more.