From a Western individualist perspective, authenticity is seen as being true to who you are, irrespective of the context. However, research suggests that this idea of authenticity may have little meaning for people who live in more collectivist cultures, which is estimated to be around 70% of the world’s population!
In my honours research, I decided to investigate how people’s cultural values influence their authenticity, and I made some interesting findings!
First of all, I found that individualists and collectivists are likely to understand and express authenticity in different ways. Being authentic for an individualist may involve understanding and being aware of their personal identity and expressing it through self-presentation and behaviour. Whereas collectivists may see being authentic as maintaining a healthy balance between personal identity and their role and responsibilities to others – they are unlikely to focus on themselves at the expense of others.
Additionally, I found that collectivists may score lower on authenticity questionnaires developed in Western countries. This does not mean that collectivists are inauthentic, but it likely shows that these questionnaires do not represent what authenticity means to them.
Overall, these findings highlight that in order to make the most of the authenticity’s benefits, researchers and organisations need to take culture into account to ensure that future assessment and intervention is culturally responsive.