Authentic people enjoy better psychological health and a greater sense of meaning in their lives, research shows. Authenticity isn’t just a buzzword. Researchers have found authentic people enjoy better psychological health and a greater sense of meaning in their lives.
“There’s a really strong link between feeling authentic and life feeling meaningful,” said Rebecca Schlegel, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Texas AM University. “You have essentially a good story about why you do the things that you do.” Authenticity is a popular subject to study, Schlegel said, but psychologists, philosophers and other scholars are still working to define this elusive concept.
Many people think authenticity means being yourself. Others believe authenticity is synonymous with honesty, truthfulness or kindness , Schlegel said. But having studied authenticity extensively, she defines its essence as self-determination.
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