The Agent Concept of the Authentic Personal: Justification and Empirical Verification

The agent concept of the personal authenticity considering it personality trait that ensures a person’s fidelity to their nature, spatial and temporal circumstances of life, and calling, is systematically presented. The two main functions of authenticity, transcendental and adaptive, contribute to maintaining prosocial (including moral) attitudes and psychological well-being. The agent concept is presented in seven positions and verified empirically. The correlation study involved 430 respondents aged 17 to 32 years (Mage = 19.20 ± 1.22), 88 men and 342 women. The indicators of general well-being, positive and negative affect, and moral motives were measured. Eight authenticity indicators representing three concepts were independent variables. Three hypotheses were tested: 1) Dispositional authenticity is positively associated with a person’s psychological well-being; 2) Dispositional authenticity is positively associated with a person’s moral motives; 3) Indicators of dispositional authenticity within different paradigms form different patterns of connections with well-being indicators and moral motives. All three hypotheses were confirmed (the second one — partially). The prediction of well-being is stronger compared with moral motives, and the indicator of the agent concept forms the largest number of connections, giving evidence for both adaptive and transcendental functions of authenticity.