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I feel good, therefore I am real: Testing the causal influence of mood on state authenticity

, , &
Pages 1202-1224
Received 18 Sep 2012
Accepted 19 Feb 2013
Published online: 10 Apr 2013

Although the literature has focused on individual differences in authenticity, recent findings suggest that authenticity is sensitive to context; that is, it is also a state. We extended this perspective by examining whether incidental affect influences authenticity. In three experiments, participants felt more authentic when in a relatively positive than negative mood. The causal role of affect in authenticity was consistent across a diverse set of mood inductions, including explicit (Experiments 1 and 3) and implicit (Experiment 2) methods. The link between incidental affect and state authenticity was not moderated by ability to down-regulate negative affect (Experiments 1 and 3) nor was it explained by negative mood increasing private self-consciousness or decreasing access to the self system (Experiment 3). The results indicate that mood is used as information to assess one's sense of authenticity.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Economic and Social Research Council grant #RES-062-23-2595 to AL and CS.
 

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