Untangling Authenticity at Work: The Structure of Authenticity-Related Constructs and Their Associations with Burnout

Authenticity at work concerns whether employees can behave and express themselves consistently with their internal values, beliefs, emotions and motives. The present study examines four authenticity-related constructs: authentic expression at work, work-related autonomy need satisfaction, psychological safety and facades of conformity. Using a pre-existing cross-sectional self-report dataset of working adults, confirmatory factor analyses will evaluate the individual scales and compare a single-factor model, a correlated four-factor model and a hierarchical model with a general authenticity-related workplace experience factor; a bifactor model may additionally be explored. Burnout will be included as an external health-related criterion and as a potential manifestation of sustained inauthentic functioning rather than as part of the authenticity measurement model. Structural models will examine which authenticity-related aspect shows the strongest unique association with lower exhaustion and cynicism and higher professional efficacy. The study may clarify construct boundaries and identify the aspect most relevant to burnout risk.