Dare to be yourself: courage promotes self-authenticity via sense of power

Abstract

ABSTRACT The benefits of self-authenticity have been well-documented, although courage is needed to be true to oneself. The present work aims to test whether courage is associated with and promotes self-authenticity. This hypothesis was confirmed across six studies (N = 3868). Study 1 showed that courage was positively related to self-authenticity. Having participants recall courageous (vs. cowardly or neutral) acts, Study 2 showed that temporarily heightened courage could enhance self-authenticity. Studies 3–5 further showed that sense of power could mediate the effect of courage on self-authenticity both at the trait and the state levels. Study 6 demonstrated the causal effect of sense of power on state self-authenticity by manipulating the sense of power. Overall, the current findings provide empirical evidence for the classic wisdom that courage enables one to be authentic and reveal the mediating role of sense of power in this process. Implications and limitations are also discussed.