Preliminary Study On Authenticity: Questionnaire And Actuality

Authenticity refers to the extent to which people are just themselves, from speech, behavioral and interpersonal perspectives. Based on literature review and open questionnaire, the research proposed the preliminary dimension concept of authenticity. Authenticity had four dimensions, namely (a) clarity:had a clear understanding of their own, true to their inner sense of values, ideas, beliefs, needs, wishes and feelings; (b) consistency:actions were according to one's words, will and needs; (c) admissibility:accept oneself in all aspects, and responsible for their own choices and decisions; (d) sincerity:be honest to others, do not hide, distort, deny or exaggerate oneself when in the relationship with others and the outside world.The study designed an authenticity questionnaire through open questionnaire, preliminary survey and a second survey, based on the preliminary dimension concept of authenticity. The preliminary survey had 290 subjects. The exploratory factor analysis verified the dimensional structure of authenticity and tested the appropriateness of the questionnaire items. The second survey obtained 634 valid questionnaires. The data were divided into two parts randomly, one was for exploratory factor analysis and another was for confirmatory factor analysis. Through factor analysis, we had the final questionnaire of authenticity. The questionnaire included 22 items in four factors. Statistical results showed good reliability and validity of the questionnaire, which could be a credible measurement for authenticity.The study investigated the overall features of authenticity. The results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in sex, major, educational level and growth background of people's authenticity; the difference of clarity in sex was significant, man scored more than women in this dimension; the difference of sincerity in both major and educational level, arts students scored more than science students, and college students scored more than undergraduates.The research also studied the relation between authenticity and self-esteem. The results showed moderately significant correlation between authenticity and self-esteem. Authenticity and all dimensions except sincerity were significant predictors for authenticity.