Why is authenticity associated with being and acting extraverted? Exploring the mediating role of positive affect

ABSTRACT

Extraversion is linked to higher levels of authenticity. Why? Across four studies, we examined positive affect as a potential mediator. In Study 1 (N = 205), we tested our mediation model at the trait level. Then, focusing on the within-person state level: Study 2 (N = 97) involved a 10-week lab-based experience sampling protocol; Study 3 (N = 147) involved a preregistered week-long daily-life experience sampling protocol; and Study 4 (N = 129) involved a two-week naturalistic experience sampling protocol. In all four studies, positive affect explained moderate to high proportions of the effects of extraversion on authenticity (Study 1 = 29%, Study 2 = 38%, Study 3 = 87%, Study 4 = 86%). We discuss several theoretical interpretations.

KEYWORDS:

• Extraversion
• positive affect
• authenticity
• wellbeing
• personality states

Acknowledgments

Data collection for Study 2 was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01MH70571. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Data collection for Study 2 was supported by a grant from the National Institute for Mental Health (RO1 MH70571) to William Fleeson We are grateful to William Fleeson for providing access to data for Study 2 and for comments on earlier drafts of this article. Data collection for Study 4 was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to Simine Vazire (BCS-1125553). We are grateful to Simine Vazire and other collaborators who contributed to the design and data collection for Study 4.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Joshua Wilt: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation (Study 2), Data curation (Study 2), Formal analysis, Project administration, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Visualization. Jessie Sun: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation (Study 1), Formal analysis, Data curation (Studies 1 and 4), Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Project administration. Rowan Jacques-Hamilton: Methodology, Investigation (Study 3), Data curation, Project administration, Writing – Review & Editing. Luke Smillie: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing, Project administration, Supervision.

Data availability statement

Studies 1, 2, and 4 were not preregistered; the preregistration for Study 3 can be accessed at [https://osf.io/b95v7/?view_only=1ae4162498034d5e842d130815c2f193]. Analysis scripts and de-identified data for all studies are available at [https://osf.io/r52jz/?view_only=027b5e6962c6438cb234654a627f4076].

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2023.2246672

Open practices

The preregistration for Study 3 is available at https://osf.io/b95v7, and de-identified data, data analysis scripts, and copies of materials used in this study are available at https://osf.io/r52jz/?view_only=027b5e6962c6438cb234654a627f4076

Notes

1. We did not assess authenticity as conceptualized in trait authenticity models, which include a general authenticity domain as well as facet-level constructs (e.g., Kernis & Goldman, 2005; Wood et al., 2008). We believe that our measures are likely highly related to the constructs assessed by such models because our items contain similar content at face value. For example, our items and measures of the models referenced above assess perceptions of behaving in line with one’s true nature and perceptions of acting phony or putting on an act.

2. It is also important to note that socializing may also be an outcome of state extraversion and state PA, and thus controlling for socializing may introduce collider bias that would artificially inflate the estimated effects. Therefore, we conducted follow-up models not controlling for time spent socializing. Results did not change (see the Supplemental Materials).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a Melbourne Research Grant Support Scheme awarded to the last author.