A facade is a form of personality change that is performed to fulfill a particular emotion you wish to portray. When people put up facades, they are acting on the outside differently than how they are feeling on the inside. There are many reasons that people put up facades and a variety of ways to do it.

People can front false emotions through their faces. For instance, if a woman wants to give the impression that she is happy, she might smile a lot and give a wide-eyed expression. On the inside, however, she could feel a variety of other emotions, such as jealousy, sadness or anger. Shel also can put up a facade of being sad by frowning and crossing her brow.

Some people put up facades through their gestures. A hug, a kiss or a handshake are examples of gestures that allow a person to appear pleasant on the outside while the person attempts to conceal his true feelings within. An example of a scenario that warrants a gesture facade is that of a man running into his ex-wife and her new husband. The man might feel devastated on the inside, but on the outside, he conceals his feelings by shaking hands with the new husband and giving the ex-wife a kiss on the cheek.

A verbal facade happens when someone verbally tells you that she is all right, happy, healthy, positive and peachy, when, really, she may be suffering on the inside. The person who puts up a verbal facade always tells you that she is doing great but will never give you the real scoop or an impression that anything else could be going on.

A material facade occurs when someone makes himself appear to be of a certain social class to which he does not really belong. For instance, a man who wants to look rich will put up a material facade by leasing a fancy car, dressing up, wearing expensive jewelry, dating wealthy women and acting the part overall. People can also put up materialistic facades to cover the fact that they are unhappy. For instance, an extravagant new car might be the facade of a man who is unhappy with his career.