In Defense Of Masks English 4 
Andrea Sanchez
English 4
Dr. Don Jobe
Fall 2014
Essay on "In Defense of Masks"
“In Defense of Masks”, by Kenneth Gergen regards that it is not possible for humans to adequately find a coherent self identity without an aftermath. Gergen states, “to the extent that they do, they many experience severe emotional distress” when trying to do so (172). He refers to Erik Erickson, a psychologist who speaks about how self-alienation can result due to the pressures of society to individuals with various masks of identity.
Determined to find exactly what altered masks can do to an identity, an experiment involving 18 female college students and a clinical trainee was conducted. Gergen’s intentions were to “find the factors of an individual’s choice of mask and how outward appearances and inward feelings of personal identity affect masks” (172). The main source of such analysis was the students’ self-evaluations after answering questions regarding their background and about themselves. With the interviewer showing signs of approval or disapproval when answering, led to strong influencing of the young students’ image of themselves. If the student received a positive reaction from the interviewer, she gained confidence while when receiving a negative reaction, they slowly began to change some of their answers to evoke the positive feedback from the interviewer. The overall conclusion of the experiment was “that it was easy to modify the mask of identity, but it says little about underlying feelings” (173).
Another experiment was conducted with the connection between a motive and a mask. The common link was the ideal of “approval-seeking”, individuals throughout society are willing to add and drop certain attributes of them, whether its personality traits or physical characteristics in order to, successful achieve others’ acceptance. Carl Rogers, one of Gergen’s colleagues, describes human identity as “We are made of soft plastic, and molded by social circumstances”
English 4
Dr. Don Jobe
Fall 2014
Essay on "In Defense of Masks"
“In Defense of Masks”, by Kenneth Gergen regards that it is not possible for humans to adequately find a coherent self identity without an aftermath. Gergen states, “to the extent that they do, they many experience severe emotional distress” when trying to do so (172). He refers to Erik Erickson, a psychologist who speaks about how self-alienation can result due to the pressures of society to individuals with various masks of identity.
Determined to find exactly what altered masks can do to an identity, an experiment involving 18 female college students and a clinical trainee was conducted. Gergen’s intentions were to “find the factors of an individual’s choice of mask and how outward appearances and inward feelings of personal identity affect masks” (172). The main source of such analysis was the students’ self-evaluations after answering questions regarding their background and about themselves. With the interviewer showing signs of approval or disapproval when answering, led to strong influencing of the young students’ image of themselves. If the student received a positive reaction from the interviewer, she gained confidence while when receiving a negative reaction, they slowly began to change some of their answers to evoke the positive feedback from the interviewer. The overall conclusion of the experiment was “that it was easy to modify the mask of identity, but it says little about underlying feelings” (173).
Another experiment was conducted with the connection between a motive and a mask. The common link was the ideal of “approval-seeking”, individuals throughout society are willing to add and drop certain attributes of them, whether its personality traits or physical characteristics in order to, successful achieve others’ acceptance. Carl Rogers, one of Gergen’s colleagues, describes human identity as “We are made of soft plastic, and molded by social circumstances”
Cited: and Michael Heumann. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2014. 198-201. Michael Heumann. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2014. 172- 174 Michael Heumann. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2014. 202- 204.