A socioecological look at authenticity: Rootedness underlies both personal and place authenticity

ABSTRACT

Can places feel authentic? Understanding the authenticity of place remains understudied compared to personal authenticity. Across three studies, we explore how place authenticity emerges and its impact on personal authenticity. We discover that while they are related (r = .52), they are distinct constructs associated with feelings of rootedness and uniqueness (Study 1). Experimentally, different types of rootedness have varying effects: connection to places increases place authenticity (and to some extent, personal authenticity), while connection to the self enhances personal authenticity (and to some extent, place authenticity; Study 2). Finally, when manipulating place authenticity experimentally, people reported no corresponding changes in personal authenticity (Study 3). In sum we find evidence that place and personal authenticity are distinct constructs, with related but distinct causes.

KEYWORDS:

• Place authenticity
• authenticity of place
• personal authenticity
• socioecological psychology
• phenomenological experience

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

Data are openly available at OSF: https://osf.io/u24tw/?view_only=7efe0faefef741c78ed9522f9da238dc.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.