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What is it like to be authentic? Exploring the authenticity Spectrum
Abstract
Human existence inevitably involves constitutive paradoxes such as striving for connection together with independence, self-focus together with self-transcendence, and infinite choices in a finite being. The capacity to be aware and hold such tensions and dialectics in a coherent manner is encapsulated in the existential construct of authenticity. The art of living an authentic life in the face of life's inevitable limitations and complexities engages the full scope and aspects of being human. Since the ancient aphorism of 'know thyself', the human pursuit for self-knowledge and authenticity has been explored through philosophy, art, and traditions, and also pervaded popular culture, movies, literature, and music. Moreover, the idea of authentic human behavior and experience has pervaded contemporary society and discourse from 'reality TV' to self-improvement literature, targeting the meanings of 'true' or 'real' vs. 'false' experiences and behaviors. However, it is important to note that authenticity in that sense is often associated with arguments about self-centered attitudes and reduced empathy for others (e.g., Hookway, 2018). This chapter attempts to frame the construct of authenticity especially in terms of lived experience, and identify potential implications of this outlook in terms of psychotherapeutic interventions.
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This chapter describes the Meaningful Living Group as a community-based meaning-centered positive group intervention. This group work is informed by existential positive psychology (EPP; Wong, 2010) and Positive Psychology 2.0 (PP2.0; Wong, 2011). More specifically, it consists of introducing 12 important principles of meaningful living in lay people’s terms to participants in the Meaningful Living Group.
Not only do humans spend their lives in a densely woven web of meanings, but they also need and want meaning. Although there are a variety of reasons for why this is the case, the current chapter focuses on the function of meaning as an existential anxiety buffer. We argue that the relentless search for meaning is motivated, to a significant extent, by the uniquely human awareness of mortality. As our review of the literature reveals, meaning, at different levels of abstraction, effectively assuages the potential terror born from this awareness.
The main purpose of this chapter is to introduce Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy to the twenty-first century, especially to positive psychologists interested in meaning research and applications. Frankl’s radically positive message of re-humanizing psychotherapy is much needed in the current technological culture. More specifically, I explain the basic assumptions of logotherapy and translate them into a testable meaning-seeking model to facilitate meaning research and intervention. This model consists of five hypotheses: (1) The Self-Transcendence Hypothesis: The will to meaning is a spiritual and primary motivation for self-transcendence; thus, it predicts that spiritual pathways (e.g., spiritual care, self-transcendence) will enhance meaning in life and well-being, even when other pathways to well-being are not available. (2) The Ultimate Meaning Hypothesis: It predicts that belief in the intrinsic meaning and value of life, regardless of circumstances, is more functional than alternative global beliefs. It also predicts that belief in ultimate meaning facilitates the discovery of meaning of the moment. (3) The Meaning Mindset Hypothesis: A meaning mindset, as compared to the success mindset, leads to greater meaningfulness, compassion, moral excellence, eudaemonic happiness, and resilience. (4) The Freedom of Will Hypothesis: People who believe in the inherent human capacity for freedom and responsibility, regardless of circumstances, will show higher autonomy and authenticity than those without such beliefs. (5) The Value Hypothesis of Discovering Meaning: Meaning is more likely to be discovered through creative, experiential, and attitudinal values that are motivated by self-transcendence rather than by self-interest. Together, they capture the complexity and centrality of meaning seeking in healing and well-being. In sum, Viktor Frankl emphasizes the need for a radical shift from self-focus to meaning-focus as the most promising way to lift up individuals from the dark pit of despair to a higher ground of flourishing. This chapter outlines the differences between logotherapy and positive psychology and suggests future research to bridge these two parallel fields of study for the benefit of psychology and society.
Despite growing interest in meaning in life, many have voiced their concern over the conceptual refinement of the construct itself. Researchers seem to have two main ways to understand what meaning in life means: coherence and purpose, with a third way, significance, gaining increasing attention. Coherence means a sense of comprehensibility and one’s life making sense. Purpose means a sense of core goals, aims, and direction in life. Significance is about a sense of life’s inherent value and having a life worth living. Although some researchers have already noted this trichotomy, the present article provides the first comprehensible theoretical overview that aims to define and pinpoint the differences and connections between these three facets of meaning. By arguing that the time is ripe to move from indiscriminate understanding of meaning into looking at these three facets separately, the article points toward a new future for research on meaning in life.
We examined the extent to which individual differences in authenticity and mindfulness predicted verbal defensiveness. Participants first completed measures of authenticity [Kernis, M. H., & Goldman, B. M. (2006). A multicomponent conceptualization of authenticity: Theory and research. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 38 (pp. 283–357).] and mindfulness [Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848]. Within the next few weeks, participants completed the Defensive Verbal Behavior Assessment [Feldman Barrett, L., Williams, N. L., & Fong, G. T. (2002). Defensive verbal behavior assessment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 776–788]. Their responses to potentially self-threatening experiences subsequently were rated for the extent to which they reflected openness and honesty as opposed to defensiveness. Our findings indicated that authenticity and mindfulness correlated positively and that higher scores on each related to lower levels of verbal defensiveness. Additional analyses revealed that the relation between authenticity and verbal defensiveness was indirect, mediated by mindfulness. These findings support the view that higher authenticity and mindfulness relate to greater tendencies to engage self-relevant information in a relatively non-defensive manner.
This paper first describes the growing pains and challenges of the positive psychology (PP) movement and identifies the four pillars of the good life as meaning, virtue, resilience, and well-being, which are all shaped by culture. I then introduce three issues that characterise the second wave of PP (referred to as PP 2.0). The first concerns the need for a comprehensive taxonomy of PP. The second involves the hypothesis that meaning-orientation and happiness-orientation represent two different visions of the good life with profound practical implications. Eudaimonia is viewed as meaning plus virtue. The third issue concerns a dual-systems model as a way to integrate the complex interactions between the negatives and positives to optimise positive outcomes in various situations. I conclude that PP 2.0 is characterised by a balanced, interactive, meaning-centered, and cross-cultural perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The present research investigated the hypotheses that elderly people can be reminders of our mortality and that concerns about our own mortality can therefore instigate ageism. In Study 1, college-age participants who saw photos of two elderly people subsequently showed more death accessibility than participants who saw photos of only younger people. In Study 2, making mortality salient for participants increased distancing from the average elderly person and decreased perceptions that the average elderly person possesses favorable attitudes. Mortality salience did not affect ratings of teenagers. In Study 3, these mortality salience effects were moderated by prior reported similarity to elderly people. Distancing from, and derogation of, elderly people after mortality salience occurred only in participants who, weeks before the study, rated their personalities as relatively similar to the average elderly person's. Discussion addresses distinguishing ageism from other forms of prejudice, as well as possibilities for reducing ageism.
The essence of who a person really is has been labeled the "true self," and an emerging area of research suggests that this self-concept plays an important role in the creation of a fulfilling existence. Three studies investigate the role of the subjective feeling that one possesses knowledge of one's true self in meaning in life judgments. Consistently, the perception of availability of true self-knowledge (operationalized as the metacognitive experience of ease in describing one's true self) predicted meaning in life judgments over and above other potentially related constructs such as mood and self-esteem. Conversely, the subjective availability of knowledge of how one actually behaves (i.e., one's actual self) was unrelated to meaning in life judgments. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Research findings have systematically pointed out the importance of addressing meaning in life in several mental health disorders and, therefore, in clinical practice. The growing interest in Meaning-centered interventions has allowed for the consolidation of a strong theoretical model of clinical practice suitable to the needs of today’s clinicians. This document elaborates on a logotherapeutic model of psychotherapy. Meaning-centered therapy and logotherapy (meaning therapy or therapy through meaning) are used interchangeably throughout the paper. The article reviews the basic tenets underlying Meaning-centered psychotherapy, summarizes the working model for clinical practice, and expands on the application of the Socratic dialogue technique in individual therapy as well as in group logotherapy. Final comments emphasize the importance of research for the advancement of logotherapy.
This chapter includes a discussion of the concept of meaning and meaning-finding processes in Terror Management Theory (TMT). Although TMT theorists (e.g., Pyszczynski et al. 2004a, b) recognize the importance of growth processes, meaning striving is treated in TMT as a defensive mechanism, anchored in self-esteem striving, and intimately connected to the social-cultural context that is the provider of meaning. Thus, the experience of meaning is perceived as a means to enhance a sense of self-worth and, by doing so, helps to protect us against the existential terror of death. Beliefs in symbolic immortality, symbolic or even literal, are treated from the same defensive posture. In a typical TMT study increasing the salience of death (the mortality salience manipulation) has the effect of making the persons subjected to the manipulation less tolerant vis-à-vis a hypothetical other who challenged their value system. There is, however, empirical evidence that suggests a different approach, one based on growth motivation. For example, it was shown that focusing on the concept of an ideal (meaningful) death may eliminate mortality salience manipulation effects (Rogers 2011). Similarly, Florian, Mikulicer, and Herschnberger (Florian et al. 2002) have shown that focusing on relationships that provide meaning cancels the effects of mortality salience manipulations. In this chapter, in addition to providing such evidence, we argue that a modified view based on growth motivation is consistent with Becker’s description of “twin ontological motives” in the Denial of Death (Becker 1973), as well as with other critiques of the TMT (e.g., Deci and Ryan 2000; Wong 2008; Wong and Tomer 2011) and with the finding of an increased death acceptance in older adults. Such a view is based on the idea that meaning construction may affect the way life and death are viewed and that, as a consequence, the need for existential defenses may be diminished, if not completely eliminated. Moreover, a conclusion from this discussion concerns the necessity to construct an integrated theory that considers, in addition to anxiety, other death attitudes such as avoidance and different types of acceptance.
existential psychotherapy is not a specific technical approach that presents a new set of rules for therapy / it asks deep questions about the nature of anxiety, despair, grief, loneliness, isolation, and anomie / it also deals centrally with the questions of creativity and love
overview / basic concepts / the "I-Am" experience / normal and neurotic anxiety / guilt and guilt feelings / the three forms of world / the significance of time / our human capacity to transcend the immediate situation
other systems / behaviorism / orthodox Freudianism / the interpersonal school of psychotherapy / Jungian psychology / client-centered approach
history / current status / theory of personality / the Freudian model of psychodynamics / the interpersonal (neo-Freudian) model of psychodynamics / existential psychodynamics / death / freedom / isolation / meaninglessness
variety of concepts / specialness / the belief in the existence of an ultimate rescuer / theory of psychotherapy / process of psychotherapy / mechanisms of psychotherapy / death and psychotherapy / death as a boundary situation / death as a primary source of anxiety / existential isolation and psychotherapy / meaninglessness and psychotherapy
applications / problems / evaluation / treatment / management / case example
existential therapy is concerned with the "I Am" (being) experience, the culture (world) in which a patient lives, the significance of time, and the aspect of consciousness called transcendence (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Although several theories assert that understanding the search for meaning in life is important, empirical research on this construct is sparse. Three studies provide the first extensive effort to understand the correlates of the search for meaning in a multistudy research program. Assessed were relations between search for meaning and well-being, cognitive style, and the Big Five, Big Three, Approach/Avoidance, and Interest models of personality, with a particular emphasis on understanding the correlates of search for meaning that are independent of presence of meaning. Conceptual models of the relation between search and presence were tested. Findings suggest that people lacking meaning search for it; the search for meaning did not appear to lead to its presence. Study 3 found that basic motive dispositions moderated relations between search for meaning and its presence. Results highlight the importance of basic personality dispositions in understanding the search for meaning and its correlates.
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