Authenticity is generally believed to play an important role in our daily lives. Empirical research thus far has made progress in understanding the nature of this important construct. We identify four broad conclusions about authenticity based on this research: (a) People value authenticity in their own behavior and other domains (e.g., life experiences, consumer products), (b) Self-reports of personal authenticity are linked to psychological well-being, (c) People generally believe authentic, or “true,” selves are morally good, and (d) Authenticity judgments are guided by cognitive tendencies related to psychological essentialism. Despite this progress, many basic questions about authenticity remain unresolved including (a) What is the best way to define the construct? (b) Why do people care so much about whether something or someone is authentic? and (c) Why is personal authenticity so strongly related to psychological well-being? This special issue presents articles aimed to shed light on some of these basic questions. Although each of the articles offers a unique perspective to understanding authenticity, these collections of articles provide a generative framework to help researchers continue to explore this elusive construct.
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4.
ChristyA. G.KimJ.VessM.SchlegelR. J.HicksJ. A. (2017). The reciprocal relationship between perceptions of moral goodness and knowledge of others’ true selves. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(8), 910–917.
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ChristyA.SchlegelR.CimpianA. (in press). The essence of the individual: The pervasive belief in the true self is an instance of psychological essentialism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
6.
De FreitasJ.CikaraM. (2018). Deep down my enemy is good: Thinking about the true self reduces intergroup bias. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 74, 307–316. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2017.10.006
7.
De FreitasJ.CikaraM.GrossmannI.SchlegelR. (2017). Origins of the belief in good true selves. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21, 634–636. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2017.05.009
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9.
FleesonW.WiltJ. (2010). The relevance of Big Five trait content in behavior to subjective authenticity: Do high levels of within-person behavioral variability undermine or enable authenticity achievement?Journal of Personality, 78, 1353–1382. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00653.x
10.
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11.
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13.
Jongman-SerenoK. P.LearyM. R. (2019). The enigma of being yourself: A critical examination of the concept of authenticity. Review of General Psychology, 23, 133–142. doi:10.1037/gpr0000157
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16.
KovácsB. (2019). Authenticity is in the eye of the beholder: The exploration of audiences’ lay concepts of authenticity across five domains. Review of General Psychology, 23, 32–59.
17.
KrausM. W.ChenS.KeltnerD. (2011). The power to be me: Power elevates self-concept consistency and authenticity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 974–980. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.017
18.
LehmanD. W.O’ConnorK.CarrollG. R. (2019). Acting on authenticity: Individual interpretations and behavioral responses. Review of General Psychology, 23, 19–31.
19.
LiuY.PerreweP. L. (2006). Are they for real? The interpersonal and intrapersonal outcomes of perceived authenticity. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 1, 204–214. doi:10.1504/IJWOE.2006.010788
20.
MorhartF.MalärL.GuèvremontA.GirardinF.GrohmannB. (2015). Brand authenticity: An integrative framework and measurement scale. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25, 200–218. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2014.11.006
21.
NewmanG. E. (2016). An essentialist account of authenticity. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 16, 294–321. doi:10.1163/15685373-12342181
22.
NewmanG. E. (2019). The psychology of authenticity. Review of General Psychology, 23, 8–18. doi:10.1037/gpr0000158
23.
NewmanG. E.BloomP. (2012). Art and authenticity: The importance of originals in judgments of value. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141, 558–569. doi:10.1037/a0026035
24.
NewmanG. E.BloomP.KnobeJ. (2014). Value judgments and the true self. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 203–216. doi:10.1177/0146167213508791
25.
RiveraG. N.ChristyA. G.KimJ.VessM.HicksJ. A.SchlegelR. J. (2019). Understanding the relationship between perceived authenticity and well-being. Review of General Psychology, 23, 113–126. doi:10.1037/gpr0000161
26.
RyanW. S.RyanR. M. (2019). Toward a social psychology of authenticity: Exploring within-person variation in autonomy, congruence, and genuineness using self-determination theory. Review of General Psychology, 23, 99–112. doi:10.1037/gpr0000162
27.
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28.
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30.
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32.
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