Masking in Neurodiversity: What Business Psychologists Need to Uncover

Mary Luu: The Author

Mary Luu Bio

I’m Mary Luu, recently completed a Master’s degree in Business Psychology. I currently work within a business psychology consultancy delivering workplace wellbeing services, where I support initiatives that promote mental health, engagement, and positive organisational culture. Alongside my professional work, volunteering has been a central part of my life and values. I have contributed to a range of community initiatives, including volunteering with Cancer Research UK and serving as a SWIM volunteer with Radical Recruit. I have supported individuals facing barriers to employment including those with lived experience of the criminal justice system, mental health challenges, and homelessness by helping them build CVs, develop confidence, and improve employability. I am motivated by opportunities to support individuals, reduce stigma around mental health, and bridge the gap between psychological research and real-world workplace impact. I am also passionate about building student communities and supporting peers who are - just like me - at the early stages of their career journeys as they transition into working life. I’d be delighted to connect and always welcome a conversation.

Mary Luu Blog

We talk about neurodiversity so often today - how to build inclusive workplaces, how to support diverse thinking styles - but we rarely start with the real human experience behind it:

How do neurodivergent individuals actually survive at work, and why is it so difficult to recognize them? Further important question: what do we - as business psychologists - need to do?

What Is Masking in Neurodivergence?

Masking refers to the conscious or unconscious strategies neurodivergent individuals use to appear “typical” in systems not designed for them. Radulski (2022) describes it as a survival mechanism: behaviors learned over time to reduce judgment, maintain credibility, or avoid social penalties.

This can look like:

•  Copying social cues and patterns

•  Forcing eye contact or small talk

•  Suppressing sensory discomfort

•  Keeping up a “competent,” “attentive,” or “easygoing” image

•  Being the people-pleaser, the perfectionist, or the social chameleon

  
  

And while we can identify common “types” of masks - attentive, perfectionistic, charismatic - I personally believe there are countless variations. Masking is fluid and highly individual, shaped by culture, upbringing, trauma, and workplace norms. Categorizing it helps us talk about it, but it will never fully capture the lived reality of those who do it every day.

What Business Psychologists Need To Do

I truly think the role of business psychologists is not to detect who is neurodivergent or label behaviors from a distance. Our work is far deeper: it is to understand the function of masking, create language around it, and build environments where people no longer need to hide in order to succeed.

Diagnose and Name the Experience At An Individual Level

The first step is helping individuals make sense of their own experiences. Many neurodivergent professionals don’t realize that what they’ve been calling “overthinking,” “being too sensitive,” or “trying too hard” is actually masking. When we name the behavior and explore the situations that trigger it, we give them clarity, and with clarity comes choice.

Psychologists can guide individuals to identify which parts of their behavior are genuine strengths and which are protective habits that drain energy. This often becomes the beginning of healthier self leadership.

Leadership, Culture, and Reducing the Masking in Neurodiversity

But supporting individuals alone is not enough. Masking happens because the environment requires it. That is why preparing leaders and managers is equally essential. This means helping them understand the difference between performance and performativity, between an employee who looks composed and one who is simply holding themselves together.

Leaders need to be provided with information on how clarity, structure, and predictability reduce the pressure to mask. They also need to create interaction norms that don’t reward loudness over thoughtfulness or “professional polish” over authenticity.

Inclusive culture

One of the most powerful shifts we can help organizations make is recognizing that communication, engagement, and participation do not look the same for everyone. When leaders understand this, they naturally become more flexible:

• offering written communication instead of demanding instant verbal responses,

• giving processing time, or

• creating alternative ways to participate in meetings.

These adjustments don’t lower expectations. Rather, they remove unnecessary friction, giving people the space to work from their strengths rather than from survival mode.

Psychologists as the Bridge Between Safety and Performance

Ultimately, the psychologist’s role is to serve as a bridge. We help individuals feel safe enough to unmask gradually, and we help leaders design cultures where unmasking is not a risk but a supported, respected choice. And when these two sides meet - self-awareness on one end and psychological safety on the other - masking becomes less necessary, and authentic contribution becomes possible.

This is why I’m so fascinated by this topic and also why I write about it in detail on several of my LinkedIn posts. Creating a workplace where masking becomes unnecessary means building an environment where people can think freely, communicate honestly, and show up as who they truly are. That is where neurodiversity stops being a concept and becomes a thriving, lived practice.

References

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books.

Radulski, E. M. (2022). Conceptualising autistic masking, camouflaging, and neurotypical privilege: Towards a minority group model of neurodiversity. Human Development, 66(2), 113 127.  https://doi.org/10.1159/000524122

Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands–resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), 522–528.

PBI Take

At the PBI we see masking as a signal of system strain and something in the environment needs redesigning.

This is where business psychology matters most: in shaping cultures where difference does not require disguise. Through leadership education, work design, and psychologically informed communities, we help early-career and established psychologists alike translate theory into environments where people can contribute.