Yours truly: On the complex relationship between authenticity and honesty

Bailey, Erica R.; Iyengar, Sheena S.

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101419

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The current results indicate that romantic partners may be more resilient to hearing difficult truths than expected. We are often concerned about hurting those close to us when sharing threatening information and have many motivations to preserve our relationships and partner's feelings (Bailey & Iyengar, 2022;Cole, 2001;DePaulo et al, 1996;Metts, 1989). However, findings from the current study suggest that providing feedback that is honest and useful for our partners or relationship may in fact be beneficial for well-being outcomes and spurring relationship change-while also not increasing short-term harm as we often believe it will-consistent with work indicating the benefits of honesty during difficult conversations (Levine et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They may do so for many reasons. People see being honest as being in conflict with being kind (Levine et al, 2020(Levine et al, , 2023Levine & Cohen, 2018), and thus, may engage in lying to appear kind or to avoid punishment, relational trauma, or hurting others (Bailey & Iyengar, 2022;Cole, 2001;DePaulo et al, 1996;Metts, 1989). Misconceptions about the effects of honesty-through overperceiving its harm and underestimating its benefits (Levine & Cohen, 2018)-may be a barrier to expressions of honesty when it may in fact promote closeness, communication, and connection.…”

Section: Connections On Well-being and Changementioning

confidence: 99%

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Expressed and Perceived Honesty Benefits Relationships Even When Couples Are Not Accurate

Le,

Chee,

Shimshock

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Honesty is a virtue that is highly valued across societies, yet can be challenging to enact, especially when truthful expressions may hurt others. We tested preregistered hypotheses on the distinct personal and interpersonal effects of expressed honesty, perceived honesty, and honest connections (i.e., accurate perceptions of expressed honesty) on well-being and change among couples. Romantic partners (N = 214 couples; N = 428) discussed a desired change in the lab and reported on their well-being and motivation to change concurrently and three months later. Honesty and well-being were self-reported and rated by observers, with results indicating correspondence between self and observer reports. Results of multilevel response surface analyses showed that greater expressed and perceived honesty—but not honest connections—predicted greater personal well-being, relationship quality, and target motivation to change concurrently, with some benefits emerging over time. Results could not be explained by couples’ baseline relationship satisfaction, communication styles, or the severity of the issue discussed. Benefits were most observed for self-reported honesty, suggesting that the internal experience and perception of honesty is most consequential for relational outcomes. The current results have important implications for understanding honesty as an interpersonal communication process. We find that honesty can benefit relationships even when the truth may hurt, with more expressed and perceived honesty fostering better relationships regardless of whether couples share in that perception of honesty.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Connections On Well-being and Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Expressed and Perceived Honesty Benefits Relationships Even When Couples Are Not Accurate

Le,

Chee,

Shimshock

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fourth, this study also encourages overcoming a binary view of authenticity in cases of macro role transitions. The literature on this topic predominantly interprets authenticity as the result of alignment between individuals' external and internal identity (Caza et al, 2018;Bailey and Iyengar, 2022;Boytos et al, 2022). This interpretation suggests that individuals have an absolute awareness of who they are and how to express their identities, although recent studies challenge this notion (Wilt et al, 2019;Hennekam and Ladge, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The macro identity transitions experienced by new CEOs present significant challenges for these individuals in terms of the need to simultaneously feel authentic in their new role and impress their audience (Guthey and Jackson, 2005). Although there are various approaches to authenticity in the workplace, the dominant view is that it involves a congruence between individuals' external and internal identities (Caza et al, 2018;Hewlin et al, 2020;Bailey and Iyengar, 2022;Boytos et al, 2022). When expressed, authenticity is often reported as "authentic self-expression, " "feeling authentic, " "authentic behavior, " and "being authentic" (Cha et al, 2019, p. 634).…”

Section: New Ceos' Role Transitions and Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tales of me: storytelling identity work, authenticity, and impression management during new CEOs’ work role transitions

Felix,

Santos,

Teixeira

2023

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionThis study aims to understand how new CEOs construct, revise, and maintain in their narrative, repertoire stories that represent their identity as it is associated with their new occupational role.MethodsFor this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study using the Grounded Theory method, involving 47 CEOs from different sectors residing in Brazil.ResultsOur results allowed for the construction of a central category called Storytelling Identity Work, which refers to stories that individuals tell about themselves, and enable them to propose and redefine who they are during major life transitions. This paper seeks to explain: (a) under what conditions this phenomenon tends to occur; (b) what characterizes the success of Storytelling Identity Work and; (c) what leads to the revision or retention of stories in the self. Our results show that storytelling identity work tends to be used by new CEOs during their transition period into the role, and when their new position involves higher levels of visibility and alteration of prestige levels in comparison to their previous position. They also suggest that storytelling identity work tends to be more successful when the stories are co-constructed and validated with other significant individuals and when they enable new CEOs to feel “sufficiently authentic” and “sufficiently impressive.” Finally, we theorize that such feelings, along with a sense of coherence between the story being told and other narratives consciously or unconsciously being narrated by the interviewees throughout their lives, lead to the retention of the story within the individual’s self.DiscussionThis article innovates by connecting the literature on personal storytelling with identity work and exploring processes that are not only useful during the process of transitioning into the role of new CEOs but also influence the constitution of the narrative repertoire and, consequently, the identity of these individuals.

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Longitudinal course and correlates of realness

Hopwood,

Nissen,

Bleidorn

2023

Curr Psychol

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People who are real are able to express how they truly think and feel and what they truly want even when there is social pressure not to. Previous research suggests that realness is associated with better social functioning and adaptive personality traits including lower neuroticism and higher extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. However, unlike other measures of the broader concept of authenticity, realness is not related to agreeableness. This suggests that people who are real are able to be disagreeable in circumstances in which the situation calls for it, perhaps because they are more motivated to be true to themselves than to avoid social costs. This study extended previous research in three ways: (1) replicate associations with personality traits, (2) examine whether lower stress and higher social support are related to realness, and (3) examine the longitudinal course of realness over 18 months during the critical period of young adulthood. In 412 young adults from California, we replicated associations between realness and adaptive personality traits and found that it was also associated lower stress and higher social support and was highly stable over time. These findings provide further evidence that realness corresponds closely to the core of authenticity as described in foundational theories of positive personality development among young adults.

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Yours truly: On the complex relationship between authenticity and honesty

Cited by 9 publications

References 24 publications

Expressed and Perceived Honesty Benefits Relationships Even When Couples Are Not Accurate

Expressed and Perceived Honesty Benefits Relationships Even When Couples Are Not Accurate

Tales of me: storytelling identity work, authenticity, and impression management during new CEOs’ work role transitions

Longitudinal course and correlates of realness

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