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In modern social life, interpersonal communication and relationship maintenance are very important links in social interaction. Max Webber, a famous social science master, once said, "Human beings are creatures hanging from the web of meaning they weave." ”
It is true that when people interact socially, they also guide their actions according to their own values and inner meaning. In different societies and cultures, there are also different judgments about the points to pay attention to when interacting.
In European and American societies, people may pay more attention to the personality characteristics of individuals, and if they can get along more when interacting, then the relationship will be close after that.
In a hierarchical society like India, the caste system in India greatly affects the motivation of interaction between individuals; in East Asia, especially in China, people pay more attention to people's qualities, because of the influence of Confucian culture, people pay more attention to collective atmosphere and interests.
"Gentlemen are harmonious but different, and villains are the same but not harmonious." It is a true reflection of the concept of communication.
However, for those who behave very "simple" in society, it is best to guard against them, because behind them, there may be a completely different state from the appearance, which may be more dangerous.
We may wish to understand it through some theoretical analysis.
Personality mask theory
Carl Gustav Jung was a well-known Swiss psychologist. In Jung's view, he paid more attention to the personality type of the individual. In his academic conception, "personality mask persona" is an important concept.
The individual is like an actor with many masks, and his different personality types are a mask, in order to adapt to the world system from a personal point of view or in the way he thinks he adopts.
It is worth noting that when individuals change their "masks" and show different appearances in social life, such "masks" types will in turn affect their overall personality, and the two will affect each other.
In Jung's view, the existence of the personality mask mechanism helps individuals understand the different states that should be maintained on different occasions, so as not to cause chaos.
But on the other hand, when the individual is immersed in the enjoyment brought by different "masks", it may change the original personality state, resulting in a certain tendency, and even a certain personality for certain benefits.
Jung's personality mask theory analyzes why a person has "many faces" from the perspective of the individual's spirit and personality. A similar theory is the view of the famous Canadian sociologist Erving Goffman on the exhibition of individuals in social life.
Born into an acting family, Goffman began to examine individual behavior from a sociological perspective.
In addition to the famous "mimesis theory", in the book "Self-Presentation of Daily Life", Goffman's theory shows a very obvious study of comedy perspective methods and symbolic interaction.
Goffman's theory is very similar to Jung's personality mask theory, which holds that individuals in social life are like actors performing on stage, treating different social occasions as different scenes of a drama, and performing social behavior in completely different ways.
For example, for an individual who attaches great importance to social interaction, when he faces a social situation with a very outstanding social status, he will often desperately show his distinctive side, so as not to appear out of place.
When he gets along with relatives in the same family, he will let go of his previous defenses and "disguises" and show his more real side; when he returns home, he will often show his true appearance when he only faces his lover and children.
Too "simple" behind it
Having seen these conceptual theories of psychology and sociology, we might as well return to the focus of the title – what are the so-called "extraordinarily simple" people in social life?
When an individual becomes an adult, no matter what kind of life background he is in, social interaction is always a "must go".
The so-called simplicity originally refers to the innocent state of children who are not deeply involved in the world, and is intended to allude to those individuals who are like a blank piece of paper in social interaction.
But will this state of affairs still exist for most adults, especially those already in the workplace? The answer should be no.
The changes that growth brings to individuals are not only changes at the physiological level, but naturally also at the level of social interaction. As you age, the relationships that individuals need to face will gradually increase in addition to their parents, classmates, and teachers.
Everyone has their own cognition and world view, will not appear particularly ignorant of current affairs, you should stay away from the people who are deep in the city, but too "simple" people.
Then individuals who still show an "unusually simple" state at this time are often used as a "mask" or a way of showing people's behavior.
In fact, human society still has a great similarity with the natural world. For adults, their social interactions are generally motivated by certain purposes, often in order to achieve the exchange of some resources.
The same is true of animals in nature, those who are powerful enough will often be crushed by their absolute strength, while some creatures with weaker strength will get the opportunity to survive or enjoy some resources through some camouflage and other strategies.
Not all, but some people, the reason why they show an "unusually simple" state is to let others relax their vigilance, pretend that they are the kind of "weak" creatures, so that through the implementation of certain strategies, they can obtain some social resources without others noticing, that is, the Chinese proverb "playing the pig and eating the tiger".
This is actually a survival strategy for them, but if these people have some malice under the premise of holding such a point of view, then they may take some unwholesome measures against others in social interaction.
After all, the heart of prevention is indispensable, some people may not have malicious intentions, just want to obtain some resources through simple performance, but if they are deceived by some people with ulterior motives, then the consequences are often unimaginable.
"Unusually simple" people may be harmless flowers or highly toxic fungi.
- The End -
Author | Tommy
Edit | Rain
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参考资料：Vogel, D. L., & Wester, S. R. (2003). To seek help or not to seek help: The risks of self-disclosure. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(3), 351.