Definition
A persona is a constructed public self — the face a person deliberately presents to the social world, distinct from their private interior. The term comes from the Latin word for an actor's mask and was developed psychologically by Carl Jung, who used it for the mediating image a person shows in order to function socially.
Greene adopts the idea for seduction: the effective seducer treats their public self as a designed artifact. The persona is not a lie so much as a selection — a heightened, coherent version of the self, composed for a particular effect.
Why it matters
How it works
A persona is built by selecting and amplifying. From the full range of a person's traits, certain ones are emphasized — a style, a manner, a recurring theme — until they form a stable, legible image. Jung warned of the danger of identifying too completely with the persona and losing contact with the inner self. Greene works the other side of the same insight: a vague, accidental persona seduces no one, while a composed one shapes how every encounter is received.