Self Compartmentalisation

Have you guys ever behaved differently depending on the environment you’re in or the people you’re surrounded by? I for one act as such intentionally, and there’s a psychological term coined to describe such behaviour, known as self-compartmentalisation.

I was first introduced to this concept by my senior-cum-debate coach back in high school, and it has become a habit ever since.

You ‘divide’ yourself into parts (hence, compartmentalise) & depending on the situation, you present only the necessary parts, not all.

It helps in building your professionalism and image as a reliable person. For instance, you can be trusted by your colleagues to not conflate personal matters with work or let it interfere with your career (which is something I’ve been trying to cultivate as part of my branding and reputation).

It can also protect you from people getting to know too much about you especially if you tend to overshare. After all, knowledge is power. You don’t want people to use your personal information against you, especially during this day and age.

Albeit being quite a radical approach, it worked wonders for me & helped propelled me to where I am today.

The major downside of it however is that it can be tiring both physically & emotionally as you have to constantly shift between personalities & different versions of yourself. Sometimes if you do it long enough, you began to lose track & question who you are as a person. Since you’re so accustomed to showing only a certain side, it’s also really difficult for you to show your true self and open up to people (which is a problem I encountered).

During my onboarding at Dell, we new hires were encouraged to not “wear a mask” or put on a façade when we’re at work as Dell strives to cultivate an environment where everyone can be comfortable being who they truly are.

That somewhat contradicts everything that I just said.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great if you can be comfortable being yourself on any occasion. It’s just that I will still not put all my cards on deck, and it’s somewhat foolish/naïve to expect otherwise.

In other words, you can’t stop people from projecting a version of themselves. It’s inevitable as people have every right to showcase what they want to showcase. Instead, we should embrace it and strive to let everyone be comfortable in projecting the best version of themselves rather than their true version because what is best for that occasion might not be fully representative of who they are as a person. Something we all should keep at the back of our minds in our daily interactions.

Granted, self-compartmentalisation is not universally accepted as a good or healthy practice. Numerous psychological studies argued on this matter, as some claim that it’s a defence mechanism for an existing mental health issue.

Regardless of whether you agree with my outlook, we all should still strive to be professional when working. It’s an underrated soft skill & a common sense that not many people possess. Too often we see people letting their emotional side get in the way of work.