UC Berkeley

A burgeoning research literature has documented that authenticity has important benefits for a broad range of outcomes, among them well-being, intimate relationships, and leader effectiveness. Most past research on the construct has focused on either the consequences of experiencing subjective feelings of authenticity or being perceived as authentic. Such findings make salient the question of whether people can accurately discern others’ subjective experience of authenticity – a question that has not yet been explored. In the five studies reported here, we began tackling this question by examining the accuracy of perceivers’ judgments of others’ felt authenticity. In Studies 1-3 we investigated correspondence between ratings of perceived and felt authenticity within acquainted dyads (romantic couples) who interacted with each other and discussed a particular set of topics. In Study 1, we examined couples in a naturalistic, daily life setting and found that members of romantic couples were able to accurately discern each other’s felt authenticity. In Study 2, with a different sample of romantic couples, we introduced experimental control over couples’ interactions by bringing them into the lab to discuss two topics to assess situation-specific authenticity. We found that across two different conversation topics, one self-focused and one related to the relationship, people were able to accurately discern their romantic partners’ felt authenticity during the conversations. In Study 3, with yet another set of romantic couples, we tested boundary conditions to determine if there was evidence of authenticity accuracy even when couples were in an emotionally-charged, antagonistic situation (conflict). We did not find accuracy in partners’ ratings of each other’s felt authenticity after a conflict conversation, raising questions about possible moderating variables (e.g., nature of the social interaction in which authenticity is being judged), as well as calling for further examination of perceivers’ accuracy in discerning others’ authenticity. Studies 1-3 relied on authenticity manifested and judged in close relationships in which both individuals knew each other. Thus, in our final two studies, we tested whether the evidence we found in Studies 1 and 2 for accurate discernment of others’ felt authenticity was limited to dyads in which members areacquainted with one another in some manner (e.g., romantic couples). Specifically, in Study 4A, and then replicated in pre-registered Study 4B, we found that outside observers could accurately judge strangers’ self-reported authenticity from video clips of a social interaction. We discuss the importance of authenticity perceptions to impression formation and close relationships, and point to critical unanswered questions regarding such perceptions.