Authenticity Scale PDF
Authenticity Scale PDF
Authenticity Scale PDF
This article describes the development of a measure of dispositional authenticity and tests whether
authenticity is related to well-being, as predicted by several counseling psychology perspectives. Scales
were designed to measure a tripartite conception of authenticity, comprising self-alienation, authentic
living, and accepting external influence, which was supported with exploratory factor analysis. Multi-
group confirmatory factor analysis showed that the factor loadings were invariant across sample,
ethnicity, and gender. The scale showed substantial discriminant validity from the Big Five personality
traits, nonsignificant correlations with social desirability, and 2- and 4-week testretest correlations
ranging from r .78 to .91. Each subscale was strongly related to self-esteem and aspects of both
subjective and psychological well-being. This article provides the first direct test of several theoretical
models that view authenticity as integral to well-being.
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou human strengths, but the psychological database is spotty (p.
canst not be false to any man. 205); and Harter (2002) concluded that there is no single, coher-
Shakespeare, Hamlet ent body of literature on authentic self-behavior, no bedrock of
To know yourself and to act accordingly has been seen as a knowledge (p. 382). The recent positive-psychology movement
moral imperative throughout history (Harter, 2002). Within hu- (see Linley, Joseph, Harrington, & Wood, 2006) has encouraged a
manistic and existential psychology, individual differences in au- resurgence of interest in authenticity. This is partly through high-
thenticity have been considered critically important to understand- lighting understudied areas of research (Gable & Haidt, 2005) and
ing well-being and freedom from psychopathology (May, 1981; partly through promoting an increased dialogue between human-
Rogers, 1959, 1964, 1980; Yalom, 1980), with the importance of istic and empirical psychologists, involving the rigorous scientific
authenticity also stressed by psychodynamic writers (Horney, testing of ideas with humanistic and counseling psychology lin-
1951; Winnicott, 1965). However, the study of authenticity has eage (Joseph & Linley, 2006; Linley, 2006; Patterson & Joseph,
largely been neglected in empirical psychology, and there have 2007). For the study of authenticity to progress, there seems to be
been no direct and psychometrically valid measures of trait au- a need to identify and quantify authenticity as an individual dif-
thenticity yet developed (Sheldon, 2004). Lopez and Rice (2006) ference variable. There is also a need for a direct test of the
lamented the virtual absence of available measures of the con- theoretically driven hypothesis that the authentic personality is
struct (p. 362); Peterson and Seligman (2004) noted that most related to well-being.
[people] agree that integrity, authenticity, and honesty are basic In the empirical study of authenticity, there has been definitional
confusion regarding the construct (Harter, 2002). As a result,
previous research has either asked people to rate themselves on a
false-self to true-self continuum (e.g., Harter, Marold, Whitesell,
Alex M. Wood, Department of Psychology, University of Manchester,
Manchester, England; P. Alex Linley, Centre for Applied Positive Psy- & Cobbs, 1996) or used less direct measures, such as the extent to
chology, Coventry, England; John Maltby and Michael Baliousis, School which peoples behavior varies across social roles (e.g., Sheldon,
of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, England; Stephen Jo- Ryan, Rawsthorne, & Ilardi, 1997). As noted by Harter (2002), this
seph, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham, has led to a diffuse body of literature, which at times is difficult to
Nottingham, England. interpret. In developing a scale of dispositional authenticity, there
This research was supported in part by a University of Warwick Re- is a need for a clear definition of the construct, both for item
search Fellowship awarded to Alex M. Wood. This research was conducted
development and to interpret the existing literature. Fortunately,
while Alex M. Wood was at the University of Warwick. We are grateful to
Anna Cunningham for her invaluable comments at all stages of the project. such a definition emerges from person-centered psychology, where
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alex M. substantial debate and conceptualization has led to a clear expla-
Wood, Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, nation of the construct, with consensus on the content and bound-
England CV4 7AL. E-mail: alex.wood@warwick.ac.uk aries of authenticity (see Wyatt, 2001). The person-centered model
385
386 WOOD, LINLEY, MALTBY, BALIOUSIS, AND JOSEPH
(SWB; although this should be considered preliminary given that to be at a particular premium, and we wanted to reduce participant
internal consistencies of their authenticity scale were as low as burden as much as possible. Preliminary evidence is also presented
.32, and the study used only 79 college students). regarding the relationship between authenticity and SWB.
Neff and Harter (2002) examined people who subordinated their
needs in close relationships to avoid confrontation, accepting ex-
Method
ternal influence. Providing they subjectively felt inauthentic, they
reported lower levels of self-esteem and more depression. Lopez Development of the Item Pool
and Rice (2006) rigorously developed a measure of authentic
living and accepting external influence with respect to romantic Items were developed to measure the a priori three-factor def-
relationships and found correlations with self-esteem, depression, inition of authenticity described in the introduction and illustrated
anxiety, and satisfaction with life. Lopez and Rice also found in Figure 1. Specifically, items were designed to measure self-
correlations between authenticity and relationship satisfaction, alienation, authentic living, and accepting external influence. As
even after controlling for gender, self-esteem, commitment level, noted above, this definition is derived from the person-centered
avoidance, and anxiety. However, Lopez and Rice were very clear literature (see Wyatt, 2001) and encompasses the focus of exis-
that they were measuring the process of authenticity in relation- tential and psychodynamic approaches, as well as empirical work
ships rather than authenticity as a disposition, and it is not clear from a variety of perspectives. The exact items were developed by
whether the results will generalize to individual differences on a P. Alex Linley (an expert in existential psychology and positive
personality level. This study also did not examine the self- psychology) and Stephen Joseph (an expert in positive psychology
alienation dimension, probably appropriately given the focus was and a psychotherapist specializing in person-centered practice). P.
on the relationship rather than on the individual. Alex Linley took the lead in reviewing the literature, initially
Social psychological research has demonstrated that the extent conducting electronic searches on the PsycINFO database (http://
to which people feel their personality varies between roles is psycnet.apa.org/) using the term authenticity and subsequently
related to their levels of well-being, with less role variation being working through the reference sections of the articles that
correlated with higher well-being (e.g., Roberts & Donahue, emerged. This revealed several empirical studies that researched
1994). Sheldon et al. (1997) specifically related this to authentic authenticity (e.g., Bettencourt & Sheldon, 2001; Goldman & Ker-
living by showing that people who reported more variability be- nis, 2002; Harter et al., 1996; McGregor & Little, 1998; Neff &
tween roles saw themselves as less authentic. Greater feelings of Harter, 2002; Sheldon et al., 1997) and several theoretical litera-
authenticity were negatively correlated with anxiety, stress, and tures from humanistic psychology (Rogers, 1959, 1964, 1980),
depression, and positively correlated with self-esteem, and this psychodynamic theory (Winnicott, 1965), existential psychology
partially mediated the relationship between role variability and (May, 1958/1994; Yalom, 1980), and positive psychology (Harter,
well-being. In a related study, Bettencourt and Sheldon (2001) 2002; Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Sheldon, 2004).
showed that subjective authenticity in different roles was related to P. Alex Linley and Stephen Joseph met weekly during the
both SWB and group connectedness, and this correlation persisted development phase and developed the items together; there were
when these variables were measured via the peer report of a group no disagreements regarding which items to include. Through a
member. consensual process, it was agreed that 7 items parsimoniously and
There is an increasing body of empirical evidence that supports accurately represented self-alienation (e.g., I feel out of touch
counseling psychology perspectives on authenticity. We suggest a with the real me), 11 items represented authentic living (e.g., I
tripartite definition of authenticity, grounded in a well-accepted always stand by what I believe in), and 7 items represented
definition of person-centered psychology, which sees authenticity accepting external influence (e.g., Other people influence me
as being comprised of self-alienation, accepting external influence, greatly). The two of them agreed that these 25 items accurately
and authentic living. This definition provides a framework in covered the construct of authenticity and measured each of the
which to interpret the existing empirical work, answering Harters three factors (see Table 1 for a full list of items). Each item was
(2002) call for such an integration. We developed a measure to expressed as a statement (e.g., I am true to myself in most
assess this tripartite conception, to directly test whether disposi- situations), with which participants expressed their agreement on
tional authenticity was related to well-being, and to provide a new a 1 (does not describe me at all) to 7 (describes me very well)
tool for counseling psychology research. Likert-type scale; intermediate scale points were not anchored.
Table 1
Communalities and Factor Loadings From the Exploratory Factor Analysis (Study 1)
Factor Communalities
Note. N 200. Principal axis exploratory factor analysis with oblique rotation; loadings over .35 in bold type.
Factor 1 represents self-alienation, Factor 2 represents authentic living, and Factor 3 represents accepting
external influence.
*
Item included in final 12-item scale.
pletion and return of the paper-and-pencil survey, participants person) to 7 (a very happy person) scale. The Subjective Happi-
were debriefed on the nature of the research by P. Alex Linley, and ness Scale has high testretest validity over periods varying from
any questions were answered. 1 month (r .90) to 1 year (r .55) and convergent validity with
measures of depression and life satisfaction (Lyubomirsky & Lep-
Measures per, 1999). In the current study, .82.
the number of factors to retain than did examination of the scree develop a short scale for use in counseling psychology settings.
plot or the Kaiser eigenvalue 1 criterion. We did not form subscales with less than four items, as Saucier and
Parallel analysis involves the generation of random data corre- Goldberg (2002) have demonstrated that scales normally have low
lation matrices with the same number of variables and participants internal consistency and poor psychometric properties with less
and calculation of the average eigenvalues for each factor in the than four items. The results from the EFA (see Table 1) showed
data sets. Any factor in the real data set with eigenvalues exceed- that factor loadings dropped off markedly after the fifth item for
ing the randomly generated values is considered substantive. Using each subscale, so we considered forming subscales each comprised
SPSS syntax developed by OConnor (2000), we calculated 1,000 of either four or five items. The four-item subscales had internal
randomly generated data sets with 200 cases and 25 variables, for consistency of .69 for Authentic Living, .78 for Accepting External
which the first five mean eigenvalues were 1.71, 1.59, 1.50, 1.43, Influence, and .78 for Self-Alienation. We examined the change in
and 1.36. These values were exceeded by the first three eigenval- alpha that would occur if we included the fifth highest loading item
ues in our actual data set, indicating an optimal three-factor struc- in each factor. For each of the subscales, adding a fifth item
ture. increased alpha by between .03 and .04. We did not feel that such
The MAP method involves separating common and unique marginal changes in alpha justified burdening the participant with
variance and only retaining factors comprising common variance an additional item, particularly given the aim of developing a short
(see OConnor, 2000; Velicer et al., 2000). In the current data set, scale. As such, we used the four highest loading items on each
the average squared partial correlations associated with the first factor to measure self-alienation, authentic living, and accepting
five components were .024, .022, .015, .016, and .018, with the external influence. The final 12 items used in the Authenticity
smallest average squared partial correlation being associated with Scale are indicated in the Appendix, along with revised item
the third component, again suggesting a three-factor solution. numbers.
Based on parallel analysis and the MAP method, we extracted
three factors that were rotated with an oblique rotation. An oblique
Authenticity and SWB
rotation is the most appropriate when the components are theoret-
ically or empirically related (Fabrigar, Wegener, MacCallum, & Table 2 shows preliminary correlations between the Authentic-
Strahan, 1999). ity Scale and SWB. Each of the subscales was also correlated with
Table 1 shows the initial and extracted communalities and all happiness. Authentic Living and Accepting External Influence
factor loadings. The initial communalities were considerably lower were correlated with anxiety and stress. The correlations of Self-
than 1, supporting the use of EFA over principal component Alienation with anxiety and stress were particularly notable (r
analysis, as principal component analysis assumes all variance is .43 and .54, respectively).
shared variance (Tinsley & Tinsley, 1987). There were few dif-
ferences between the initial and extracted communalities, again
Discussion
suggesting that a sufficient number of factors had been extracted.
Most of the items loaded strongly and uniquely on one factor. The In Study 1, the Authenticity Scale was developed, and initial
factors were readily interpretable. evidence supported the existence of the expected factor structure
Factor 1 comprised negatively worded statements, such as I of self-alienation, accepting external influence, and authentic liv-
feel as if I dont know myself very well and I feel out of touch ing. This suggests that the items are indeed assessing the a priori
with the real me, and corresponded to the self-alienation factor of tripartite conception of authenticity. Based on these three factors,
authenticity. The highest loading items of Factor 2 were I always a 12-item Authenticity Scale was created.
stand by what I believe in and I am true to myself in most Each of the subscales was correlated with happiness. Addition-
situations and corresponded to the authentic living factor of ally, anxiety and stress were positively correlated with Authentic
authenticity. Factor 3 was defined by such items as I usually do Living and negatively correlated with Accepting External Influ-
what other people tell me to do and Other people influence me ence. Given that authenticity was theoretically expected to be
greatly and represented accepting external influence. Thus, the associated with SWB (e.g., Horney, 1951; Rogers, 1964; Winni-
factor analysis supported the structure we expected to find based cott, 1965), this provides preliminary evidence for the validity of
on the person-centered definition of authenticity (Rogers, 1961; the scale.
Wyatt, 2001) and suggested that the items we had developed
mapped onto this conception as desired. The three factors were
intercorrelated. Self-alienation correlated with authentic living at
r .44 and with accepting external influence at r .40. Table 2
Authentic living was correlated with accepting external influence Preliminary Correlations Between the Authenticity Scale and
at r .38. Subjective Well-Being (Study 1)
independence of positive and negative affect is better operation- largely independently of the Big Five, social desirability, and
alized than it is in many other similar measures (Watson et al., coping styles (McCullough et al., 2002; Wood, Joseph, & Linley,
1988). In the current study, alphas ranged from .83 to .88. 2007; Wood, Maltby, Stewart, & Joseph, 2008), and to have high
Scales of PWB. The short versions of the six subscales of testretest reliability (Wood, Maltby, Gillette, Linley, & Joseph, in
Ryffs (1989) scales of PWB were used to measure aspects of press). In the current study, alpha was .86.
PWB. Each of the subscales contains three items, including a
balance of positively and negatively worded items, all of which are
Results
rated on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) scale. The
Autonomy subscale measures independence and self- Descriptive Statistics
determination (e.g., I have confidence in my opinions, even if
they are contrary to the general consensus), Environmental Mas- Table 3 shows the descriptive statistics and subscale intercorre-
tery measures a persons sense of mastery and competence in lations for all of the samples. Of note are the relatively low
managing the environment (e.g., In general, I feel I am in charge intercorrelations between the subscales, supporting their discrimi-
of the situation in which I live), Positive Relations With Others nant validity. Internal consistencies ranged from .70 to .86.
measures the participants impression of the quality of their close
personal relationships (e.g., I have not experienced many warm Multigroup CFA
and trusting relationships with others [reverse coded]), Personal
Growth measures an orientation toward self-improvement and Multigroup covariance structural equation modeling was per-
actualization (e.g., For me, life has been a continuous process of formed with the AMOS software (see Byrne, 2004), using the
learning, changing, and growth), Purpose in Life measures beliefs maximum likelihood model of estimation. As the scales showed
regarding purpose and meaningfulness in life (e.g., Some people some negative skew, we applied the Satorra-Bentler (Satorra &
wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them) and Bentler, 2001) correction for nonnormality.
Self-Acceptance measures positive attitudes about the self (e.g., I Multigroup CFA involves two steps. In Step 1, separate CFAs
like most aspects of my personality). Extensive studies have are performed for each of the groups. In Step 2, two models are
previously used these scales and have shown that the scales are compared for difference in fit. The fit of the first model (the
independent from SWB (e.g., Keyes et al., 2002; Ryff & Keyes, unconstrained model) is simply the sum of the chi-squared statis-
1995). In the current study, alphas for the three-item subscales tics from the separate CFAs in Step 1. In this model, the values of
ranged from .54 to .79. factor loadings have been free to vary between groups. The second
Gratitude. The Gratitude Questionnaire-6 (McCullough, Em- model (the constrained model) is a single CFA that constrains the
mons, & Tsang, 2002) was used to assess trait gratitude, which was factor loadings to be equal across the groups. Invariance of the
included as an additional well-being variable. Six items measure measure across groups is inferred if the fit of the constrained
grateful affect in terms of intensity (e.g., I feel thankful for what model is not significantly worse than is the fit of the unconstrained
I have received in life), frequency (e.g., Long amounts of time model. As the models are nested, the difference in the fit between
can go by before I feel grateful to something or someone), and the chi-squared values of the two models is itself chi-squared
density, reflecting the number of events or people that can elicit the distributed, with number of degrees of freedom equal to the dif-
emotion (e.g., I am grateful to a wide variety of people). Items ference between the degrees of freedom of the competing models
(two reverse coded) are rated on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (see Byrne, 2004).
(strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The Gratitude The first multigroup analysis was performed to test the fit and
Questionnaire-6 has been shown to correlate with well-being sample invariance of the three-factor model suggested in Study 1.
Table 3
Descriptive Statistics and Scale Intercorrelations (Study 2)
Sample 1 (n 180)
Authentic Living .82 19.52 5.20 .40** .32**
Accepting External Influence .84 13.11 5.77 .42**
Self-Alienation .82 13.03 5.16
Sample 2 (n 158)
Authentic Living .70 21.75 3.42 .21** .16*
Accepting External Influence .77 13.91 4.71 .32**
Self-Alienation .84 9.95 4.79
Sample 3 (n 210)
Authentic Living .79 22.41 3.07 .27** .32**
Accepting External Influence .77 13.14 4.18 .20**
Self-Alienation .82 9.49 4.15
*
p .05. **
p .01.
THE AUTHENTIC PERSONALITY 393
Three latent factors were specified, corresponding to self- both genders exhibited a good fit for the three-factor model. The
alienation, authentic living, and accepting external influence. Each multigroup CFA showed that again the constrained model,
of these latent factors was defined by the items of the subscales. 2(111) 146.85, CFI .98, RMSEA .03 (90% CI .01.04),
We also specified that the latent factors of self-alienation, authen- provided an equally good fit as the unconstrained model did,
tic living, and accepting external influence existed under a higher 2(102) 135.39, CFI .98, RMSEA .03 (90% CI .01.04;
order authenticity factor. No error variances were allowed to 2 11.46, df 9, p .25), suggesting the gender invariance
correlate. of the measure.
The individual fit from the separate CFAs for Samples 1, 2, and Finally, we recombined the samples and split the sample be-
3 are presented in Table 4. Model fit was tested with the chi- tween three ethnic groups. Participants were classed as either
squared test of the difference between the implied and reproduced White (n 283), Asian (n 109), or Black (n 65). Finer
correlation matrices, the standardized root-mean-square residual grained comparisons between ethnic groups (e.g., Indian or Chi-
(SRMR), the comparative fit index (CFI), and the root-mean- nese) were not possible due to an insufficient sample size for CFA.
square error of approximation (RMSEA). As the chi-squared test is Table 4 shows a model fit for each of the ethnic groups. The
highly sensitive to sample size, Hu and Bentler (1999) recommend multigroup CFA showed the constrained model, 2(189)
basing model fit assessments on the CFI and SRMR. Based on 273.31, CFI .96, RMSEA .03 (90% CI .02.04), provided
their Monte Carlo analyses, they suggested that good model fit is an equally good fit as the unconstrained model did, 2(180)
individually indicated with approximate values of SRMR .08, 261.82, CFI .96, RMSEA .03 (90% CI .02.04; 2
CFI .95, and RMSEA .06; conventional values for accepting 11.49, df 9, p .09), suggesting that the measure is invariant
good models are substantially more lenient than these values are. across ethnic groups.
Based on these values, individually any of the samples provided a Factor loadings. The multigroup CFAs suggested that the
good fit for the three-factor model. In the multigroup comparison, model is invariant across sample, gender, and ethnic groups (the
the constrained model, 2(171) 312.93, CFI .94, RMSEA factor loadings are equal for each of these groups). Given the
.04 (90% CI .03.05), provided an equally good fit as the factor loadings are equal across each group, Figure 2 presents the
unconstrained model did, 2(153) 285.69, CFI .94, RM- factor loadings based on a combination of all three samples. Visual
SEA .04 (90% CI .03.05; 2 27.25; df 18, p .08), inspection of the factor loadings from the separate CFAs from each
indicating that the factor loadings were equal between the groups, group confirmed the statistical finding that the loadings were near
and the measure was sample invariant. This is important, as the identical. Inspection of Figure 2 shows reasonable factor loadings
samples differed in terms of sampling technique and comparison (between .60 and .78). The latent factors also load highly on a
(two student groups and one ethnically diverse occupational sam- higher order authenticity factor (between .58 and .63).
ple). Comparing one- and three-factor models. The results of the
As the measure showed sample invariance, it is acceptable to multigroup CFAs suggested that the three-factor model provides a
combine the samples and create new groups based on demographic good fit for the data. However, the three latent factors loaded
groups (Byrne, 2004). We combined the samples and split them highly on a higher order authenticity factor. Although this is
according to gender (144 men, 325 women). As shown in Table 4, consistent with each factor being representative of authenticity, it
Table 4
Results From the Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Model
Model 1: Three factors Model 2: One factor comparisons
RMSEA RMSEA
Group n 2(51) SRMR CFI (90% CI) 2(54) SRMR CFI (90% CI) df 2
Note. SRMR standardized root-mean-square residual; CFI comparative fit index; RMSEA root-mean-square error of approximation; CI
confidence interval.
*
p .05. ** p .01. *** p .001.
394 WOOD, LINLEY, MALTBY, BALIOUSIS, AND JOSEPH
Authenticity
.77 .74 .64 .78 .74 .70 .73 .65 .68 .70 .78 .60
Item 10 Item 7 Item 2 Item 12 Item 6 Item 4 Item 3 Item 5 Item 11 Item 9 Item 8 Item 1
Figure 2. Diagram of the confirmatory factor analysis, with item and latent variable loadings. Error variances
omitted for clarity.
raises the question of whether a one-factor model would provide Discriminant validity from the Big Five. Table 6 presents
an equally good fit for the data. To test this, for each of the zero-order correlations between the Authenticity Scale and the Big
samples, genders, and ethnicities, we compared the three-factor Five, along with three multiple regressions where the Big Five are
model with a second one-factor model where all items loaded on sequentially regressed on Authentic Living, Accepting External
a single factor. As can be seen in Table 4, for each group, the Influence, and Self-Alienation. There were different patterns of
one-factor model provided a poor fit of the data. As also reported zero-order correlations for each of the subscales, but a consistent
in Table 4, for every group, direct nested comparisons of chi- overall picture emerges where all the significant correlations are in
squared values showed that the three-factor model provided a the same direction. As a construct, authenticity appears to be
significantly better fit than the one-factor model did. On this basis, positively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness, conscien-
the one-factor model was rejected. tiousness, and openness, and negatively correlated with neuroti-
cism. However, the results of the multiple regression suggest that
Reliability and Validity authenticity cannot be reduced to a linear combination of Big Five
traits, with the Big Five only accounting for a small but significant
Testretest reliability. Table 5 provides 2- and 4-week test 11%13% of the variance in Authentic Living, Accepting External
retest reliability. For each of the subscales, responses at Time 1 Influence, and Self-Alienation. We also correlated the Authenticity
were correlated with responses at Time 2 at between r .78 and Scale with the recently conceptualized sixth factor of personality.
r .91. In each case, the 4-week testretest correlation differed None of the subscales was significantly correlated with the
from the corresponding 4-week correlation by only r .01. HEXACO measure of this factor (largest absolute r .11, p
Additionally, at both time intervals each of the subscales showed .14), ruling out strong correlations with the sixth factor of person-
group-level stability, with small and nonsignificant mean level
ality as an explanation for the discriminant validity of the Authen-
differences between the two time points.
ticity Scale from the Big Five.
Discriminant validity from social desirability. Both the IM and
SED subscales of social desirability showed very low and nonsignif-
icant correlations with the Authenticity Scale. Neither scale was Correlations With Self-Esteem and SWB
significantly correlated with accepting external influence (IM r
.09; SED r .08), self-alienation (IM r .08; SED r .08), To test whether authenticity is related to self-esteem and SWB,
or authentic living (IM r .05; SED r .06), with the smallest p we correlated the Authenticity Scale with measures of self-esteem,
.19. The results suggest that responding to the Authenticity Scale is anxiety, stress, happiness, satisfaction with life, and positive and
not influenced by socially desirable responding. negative affect. These results are presented in Table 7.
Table 5
Test-Retest Reliabilities at 2 Weeks and 4 Weeks
2 weeks
Authentic Living 19.02 5.26 19.27 5.01 0.69 .49 .79
Accepting External Influence 13.67 5.50 13.91 5.12 1.08 .28 .84
Self-Alienation 12.46 5.15 12.41 4.78 0.13 .90 .78
4 weeks
Authentic Living 20.02 5.12 19.63 5.25 1.09 .28 .78
Accepting External Influence 12.66 6.02 12.84 5.47 0.51 .61 .81
Self-Alienation 13.61 5.12 13.47 5.14 0.38 .71 .79
Note. All participants from Sample 1. Two-week n 90, 4-week n 90, all dfs 89. For each r, p .001.
THE AUTHENTIC PERSONALITY 395
Openness
.45 to .59). Authentic Living and Accepting External Influence
B (SE)
were also correlated with self-esteem in each of the samples. The
size of the correlations of self-esteem with Authentic Living and
Accepting External Influence were generally of a medium magni-
*
.23 .21
.06 .10
.13 .04
r
tude (range of absolute r .20 to .36). The hypothesis that
*
authenticity would be linked to self-esteem was supported in four
.25*
.19
lations between satisfaction with life and positive affect were not
r
.03 (.02)
B (SE)
.04 (.02)
.04 (.02)
.13**
.11*
.12
Big Five traits. The scale was meaningfully related to the Big Five,
with more authentic people being more extraverted, agreeable,
Table 6
Table 7
Authenticity and Subjective Well-Being
Sample 1 (n 180)
Authentic Living .22** .23** .07
Accepting External Influence .35** .23** .20**
Self-Alienation .34** .21** .21**
Sample 2 (n 158)
Authentic Living .24** .20** .22** .17* .10
Accepting External Influence .23** .26** .13 .15 .18*
Self-Alienation .57** .47** .50** .35** .49**
Sample 3 (n 213)
Authentic Living .23**
Accepting External Influence .27**
Self-Alienation .45**
Sample 4 (n 104)
Authentic Living .36** .18 .21* .20* .27*
Accepting External Influence .20* .20* .06 .06 .21*
Self-Alienation .59** .39** .34** .31** .48**
of positive emotional and social functioning. However, a linear thenticity and the well-being variables. The strong relationship
combination of the Big Five only explained a maximum of 13% of between the Authenticity Scale and well-being is a good example
the variance in the subscales of the Authenticity Scale, suggesting of how classical perspectives in counseling psychology can inform
that the scale is more than just a reflection of a configuration of the direction of current empirical work in personality psychology
Big Five traits. (cf. Linley, 2006).
The Authenticity Scale also was correlated with self-esteem, It is also notable that authenticity was correlated with both SWB
SWB, and PWB. As well as providing convergent validity for the and PWB. SWB and PWB are separate concepts, with different
scale, this provides the first test using a validated scale of whether theoretical positions, causes, correlates, and consequences (Keyes
trait authenticity is related to well-being. This is important, as et al., 2002; Ryan & Deci, 2001; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). However,
authenticity is considered central to well-being in several counsel- as predicted, authenticity is related to both conceptions of well-
ing psychology conceptions (Horney, 1951; May, 1981; Rogers, being. The Authenticity Scale was also strongly and robustly
1959; Winnicott, 1965; Yalom, 1980). Indeed, some of the corre- related to self-esteem. This is in keeping with Rogers (1959)
lations of authenticity and well-being were particularly high. For linking of authenticity and unconditional positive regard and Ker-
example, the correlation between self-alienation and satisfaction nis (2003) association of authenticity and secure self-esteem.
with life ranged between r .34 and .50. In Park, Peterson, The field of authenticity research has been hampered by the lack
and Seligmans (2004) assessment of the relationship between 24 of a valid personality measure. The development of the Authen-
character strengths and satisfaction with life, values of |.34| would ticity Scale allows for further tests of the theoretical positions, as
be higher than all but six strengths, and values of .50 are higher well as the several questions that emerge from this article.
than all 24 strengths except for hope. It appears that authenticity is First, longitudinal research could address the order of causality
one of the strongest predictors of well-being. This is particularly between authenticity and well-being and the developmental anteced-
notable as there is no item overlap between the measure of au- ents of authenticity. For example, authenticity could lead to well-
Table 8
Authenticity and Psychological Well-Being
Sample 1 (n 180)
Authentic Living .18* .17* .18* .25** .08 .28**
Accepting External Influence .25** .21** .27** .30** .22** .41**
Self-Alienation .17* .21** .23** .28** .15* .39**
Sample 3 (n 119)
Authentic Living .45** .40** .34** .37**
Accepting External Influence .59** .27** .24* .15
Self-Alienation .33** .52** .44** .35**
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Appendix
5. I always feel I need to do what others expect me All items are presented on a 1 (does not describe me at all) to
7 (describes me very well) scale. Total Items 1, 8, 9, and 11 for
to do.
Authentic Living; Items 3, 4, 5, and 6 for Accepting External
6. Other people influence me greatly. Influence; and Items 2, 7, 10, and 12 for Self-Alienation.
7. I feel as if I dont know myself very well. Received January 24, 2007
Revision received March 6, 2008
8. I always stand by what I believe in. Accepted March 9, 2008