AUTHOR=Nartova-Bochaver Sofya , Reznichenko Sofia , Maltby John 

TITLE=The Authenticity Scale: Validation in Russian Culture

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.609617

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.609617

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>The correlational study is aimed at validating the <italic>Authenticity Scale</italic> in Russian culture. Authenticity is considered a trait responsible for a person’s ability to be oneself. It helps people resist environment pressure and prevent self-alienation, which contributes to maintaining psychological wellbeing. The original Authenticity Scale includes three subscales: <italic>Authentic Living, Accepting External Influence</italic>, and <italic>Self-Alienation</italic>. In total, 2,188 respondents (<italic>M</italic><sub>age</sub> = 26.30, <italic>SD</italic><sub>age</sub> = 13.81; 78.1% female) participated in the survey. The dimensionality of the <italic>Authenticity Scale</italic> and its measurement invariance across sex, age, and depression rate subgroups was examined with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses; the original tripartite structure was kept. Convergent validity was tested through correlation analyses with the <italic>Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale</italic>, the <italic>International Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Short-Form</italic>, the <italic>Centre of Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale</italic>, the <italic>Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale</italic>, and the <italic>Satisfaction with Life Scale</italic>. According to the CFA results, the structure of the Russian version differs from the original one slightly (item 1 was moved from the subscale <italic>Authentic Living</italic> to the subscale <italic>Accepting External Influence</italic> and item 4 was excluded); however, the modified factor model showed the best absolute and comparative fit statistics [CFI = 0.961, TLI = 0.949, RMSEA = 0.050 (90% CI [0.40; 0.60]) and SRMR = 0.037]. The reliability (McDonald’s Omega) of the <italic>Authenticity Scale</italic> subscales was satisfactory and ranged from 0.78 to 0.84. It was revealed that youth are more likely to have high scores on <italic>Accepting External Influence</italic> and <italic>Self-Alienation</italic> than adults. Men and women did not significantly differ on the sub-scores of <italic>Authenticity Scale</italic>. Multigroup CFA also showed that <italic>Authenticity Scale</italic> scores may be biased in people with high levels of clinical depression, in terms of the item intercepts. <italic>Authentic Living</italic> is positively connected with mental wellbeing, self-esteem, positive affect, satisfaction with life, and negatively with depressive symptoms and negative affect; reverse trends were found for <italic>Accepting External Influence</italic> and <italic>Self-Alienation</italic> subscales. The Russian version of the <italic>Authenticity Scale</italic> is a valid, reliable tool that may be recommended for use in various areas of non-clinical practice.</p>