Date Thesis Awarded

5-2020

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Todd Thrash

Committee Members

Kate Harrigan

Anya Lunden

Joanna Schug

Abstract

Authenticity remains an elusive and poorly defined construct in academia. While many researchers have attempted to measure authenticity and its relation to other variables, few have done so with a strong theoretical groundwork to stand upon. Furthermore, none have investigated the relation of authenticity to inspiration. In the present research, the concept of authenticity was grounded in the multidimensional framework offered by Kernis and Goldman, and inspiration was conceptualized as a motivational state in which the individual is compelled to bring ideas into fruition (Thrash & Elliot, 2003). It was theorized that authenticity and inspiration may be positively related not only at the between-person level (individual differences), but also at the within-person level (dynamic changes over time). A 14-day daily diary study was conducted to measure state-level authenticity and inspiration of participants in their everyday lives. Inspiration and authenticity were found to be positively correlated at both between-person and within-person levels of analysis. Analyses of specific authenticity facets indicated that only two facets of authenticity, authentic awareness and authentic behavior, were correlated with inspiration at the between-person level. These findings indicate that although inspiration and authenticity tend to vary together within persons across time, individuals prone to inspiration are high only in certain facets of authenticity. Further research ought to examine temporal precedence and causality between inspiration and authenticity. Further research ought to examine temporal precedence and causality between inspiration and authenticity.

Recommended Citation

Shifflett, Cameron, "Real is What You Make It: An Analysis of Authenticity and Inspiration in Daily Life" (2020). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1498.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1498