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If you are to take a step back and reflect on your personality, how will you characterize yourself? 如果你退后一步反省自己的个性，你会如何描述自己？ A quiet introvert? An unabashed extrovert? A predominant leader? An accommodating team player? A sensible arbitrator? Or a mix of many roles? 一个安静内向的人？一个坦率外向的人？卓越的领导者？一个随和的团队成员？明智的仲裁人？还是多种角色的混合？
If you present yourself in different fashions in front of different people, then what is your true personality? Or is the idea that there is a true personality in everyone a misleading notion? 如果你在不同的人面前以不同的方式展示自己，那么你真正的个性是什么？还是认为每个人都有一个真正的人格是一个误导性的概念？ The social psychologist, Erving Goffman, known for his eccentricity and profound understanding of humans' social behaviors, has a theory: "we are all just actors trying to control and manage our public image." 社会心理学家欧文·戈夫曼以其怪癖和对人类社会行为的深刻理解而闻名，他有一个理论：“我们都只是试图控制和管理公众形象的演员。” Mr. Goffman posits that one's personality is an amalgamation of the roles one chooses to play in a number of contexts one has encountered in his or her life. 戈夫曼先生认为，一个人的性格是一个人在他或她的生活中遇到的许多环境中选择扮演的角色的融合。 Like actors and actresses whose ultimate goals are to render their characters compelling and coherent, we also entertain the same objective when we decide on how to impress different groups of people that come in and out of our lives and how we want them to think of us. 就像演员们的最终目标是让他们的角色引人入胜、连贯一致一样，当我们决定如何打动进出我们生活的不同人群，以及我们希望他们如何看待我们时，我们也有着同样的目标。
One could both be diligent at work in the eyes of his or her colleagues, and laid-back at home, leaving tedious house chores to his or her parents. 在同事眼中，一个人既可以勤奋工作，也可以悠闲地待在家里，把繁琐的家务留给父母。 Demonstrating reserved modesty in a meeting filled with people higher on the hierarchy and exhibiting outspokenness and acuity of the mind during a post-dinner chat with close friends can often occur within the same person. 在与高层人士的会面中表现出内敛的谦逊，在与亲密朋友的晚餐后聊天中表现出直言不讳和敏锐的头脑，这通常发生在同一个人身上。 To the core, we are how we choose and what we believe.
But on the outside, our personalities are how we represent ourselves to others, a decision predicated on what kinds of interactions we want to achieve with those self-representations. 但对外的时候，我们的个性是我们如何向他人展示自己，这一决定取决于我们希望通过这些自我展示实现何种互动。 Although there are variations in different individuals' personalities, for the majority of us, we strive to make sure that we are presenting ourselves within the bounds of agreed-upon socially appropriate behaviors. 尽管不同个体的个性存在差异，但对于我们大多数人来说，我们努力确保自己在商定的社会适当行为范围内展示自己。
Those unwritten rules prescribe that people don't normally yell out curse words in a formal setting, or that they don't usually address their siblings as if they are their acquaintance-level coworkers. 这些不成文的规定，人们通常不会在正式场合大声咒骂，或者他们通常不会像对待熟人同事一样称呼兄弟姐妹。
然而，当他们这样做的时候，在他们违反规则的表面之下可能隐藏着一个信息。 Some of those violations might risk their current social standings while others might not. 其中一些侵权行为可能会危及他们目前的社会地位，而另一些则可能不会。 When a hotel staff member puts aside his courtesy and shouts at a customer in angry expletives, he's likely to get the pink slip. 当一名酒店工作人员抛开礼貌，愤怒地咒骂顾客时，他很可能会被解雇。 On the other hand, when a mother calls her five-year-old son a masterful artist in a faked respectful tone after seeing his messy doodles on the wall, this reversal of roles could be a prelude to a subsequent reprimand. 另一方面，当一位母亲看到他在墙上乱七八糟的涂鸦后，用假装恭敬的口吻称她五岁的儿子为大师级艺术家时，这种角色的转变可能是随后谴责的前奏。 Our personalities are statements about ourselves in various situations as we take on different social identities, and, as the thinking goes, you might not want to sum up someone's personality in a sweeping description like "he's generous" or "she's mean." 我们的个性是在不同情况下对自己的陈述，因为我们具有不同的社会身份，而且，按照思维方式，你可能不想用“他慷慨”或“她吝啬”之类的笼统描述来概括某人的个性 Take a step back and reflect on 退一步反省 A predominant leader 卓越的领袖 An accommodating team player 随和的团队成员 A sensible arbitrator 明智的仲裁人 A mix of many roles /amalgamation of roles 多种角色的混合 In different fashions 以不同的方式 A misleading notion 误导性的观念 Entertain the same objective 志同道合 eccentricity 古怪 compelling 引人入胜的 (fascinatingstimulating gripping absorbing) coherent 有条理的 Profound understanding 深刻理解 Tedious house chores 乏味的家务活 diligent - laid-back 勤奋-慵懒 Reserved modesty 含蓄的谦虚 outspokenness 直率 acuity of the mind 头脑敏锐 (acutenesssharpness keenness) On the hierarchy 等级制度 To the core 彻底地 Variations in 变化 in a number of contexts 在许多情况下 Within the bounds 在范围内 be predicated on 以...为基础的 self-representations 自我表现 Socially appropriate behavior 社会适应行为 In formal setting 在正式场合 agreed-upon 商定的 unwritten rules prescribe 不成文规则 yell out curse words 大声咒骂 Address siblings 称呼兄弟姐妹 Acquaintance level 熟人水平 infractions /violations of the rules 违反规则 Social standings 社会地位 puts aside his courtesy 抛开他的礼貌 Take on social identities 承担社会身份 pink slip 解雇通知书 reprimand 训斥v/n messy doodles 乱涂乱画 a prelude to 序曲 as the thinking goes 按照想法 in angry expletives（秽语） 愤怒的咒骂 reversal of role 角色转换 reversal of fortune 命运逆转 / accept reversals 接受挫折 a masterful artist 杰出的艺术家 In a sweeping description 笼统地描述 |
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