Authenticity

Abstract

Four components determine the degree of authenticity: awareness that we all have good and bad aspects; unbiased processing of both these aspects that should be accepted; behaviour congruent with the true self; and relational orientation in which there is honesty/self-disclosure that allows others to see us as we really are. Striving for a high degree of authenticity can seem a lofty aim (think Maslow's pyramid) because to achieve it, one's core self must first be identified, then accepted and finally, allowed to live and be. Perhaps the psychological prize of healthy functioning and life satisfaction is worth an inevitable struggle?