Feeling special, feeling happy: Authenticity mediates the relationship between sense of uniqueness and happiness
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Feeling special, feeling happy: Authenticity mediates the relationship between sense of uniqueness and happiness Selda Koydemir 1
&
Ömer Faruk Şimşek 2 & Tubanur Bayram Kuzgun 2 & Astrid Schütz 3
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract Uniqueness is a fundamental aspect of individual identity, yet commonly used conceptualizations of uniqueness are based on the contrast between an individual and other people, an understanding that is not congruent with person-centred definitions from humanistic approaches. This study is based on the idea that uniqueness is concerned with the acceptance of one’s existence and uses Şimsek and Yalınçetin’s (Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 576–581, 2010) conceptualization, namely, a personal sense of uniqueness. Relying on both self- and observer reports, we examined the mediating role of authenticity in the relationship between a personal sense of uniqueness and happiness. This study also provides an extension of previous research by furthering the understanding of how dimensions of authenticity are linked to well-being. In line with our hypotheses, we found that a personal sense of uniqueness was positively related to authentic living and negatively related to self-alienation. Our results also showed a negative correlation between self-alienation and happiness and a positive correlation between authentic living and happiness. Self-alienation, a core dimension of authenticity, mediated the relationship between a personal sense of uniqueness and happiness. Keywords Sense of uniqueness . Authenticity . Happiness . Well-being . Self-alienation . MTMM
An important characteristic of human beings is their sense that they have a unique existence in the world. This sentiment can also be considered a fundamental dimension of our identity given that it makes us feel special as individuals. Thus, it is not surprising that in recent decades, an increasing number of researchers have aimed to define and measure the feeling of uniqueness. According to Rogers (1961), for example, for the client in therapy acknowledging his or her self as unique is an important factor in the process of developing a self-determined personality. In a similar vein, Maslow (1954) viewed the feeling of being unique as part of self-actualization. Later, Baumeister and Leary (1995) argued that although individuals need social
* Selda Koydemir selda.koydemir@uni–bamberg.de 1
Department Psychology, University of Bamberg, Markusplatz 3, D-96045 Bamberg, Germany
2
Department of Psychology, Istanbul Arel University, Türkoba, Turkey
3
Department of Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany
connections and interactions with significant others (i.e., the need to belong), they also have a need to feel different from others. However, there is still very limited empirical research on the concept of uniqueness overall. Early approaches (Brewer 1991; Elkind 1967; Snyder and Fromkin 1980) conceptualized uniqueness as falling on a similarity-difference continuum. It has
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