What It Means to Be Oneself: The Everyday Ideas of Authenticity among Primary School Children and Adolescents in Russia

Background Personal authenticity is a person’s ability to be oneself and coherent in both his/her personality and the circumstances of his/her life (time, place, and life-calling). The sense of one’s true self plays an essential role in peoples’ psychological well-being and life goals. Currently, the theory of authenticity is included in existential psychology, the person-centered approach, and the psychology of the subject, but all of these approaches have some methodological limitations. Objective The aim of the current study was to explore the everyday presentations of the true self among the primary school children and adolescents. It was expected that in adolescence, these representations are more differentiated and mature than at an earlier stage of life. Design In the exploratory research, 330 respondents took part, including 163 primary school children (74 girls, 87 boys, ages 7 to 11; M = 9.4) and 167 adolescents (78 girls, 89 boys, ages 12 to 17; M = 14.3). A special interview consisting of 11 open and closed-ended questions was developed. The inductive method of content analysis was used. Results Differences were found in the frequencies of the categories used by primary school children and adolescents. Older respondents described their true selves in more detail; their evaluations were more positive and often included their social life as an inseparable part of themselves, whereas descriptions by the younger children were more sparse, ambiguous, and individualistic. Conclusion The results obtained can help identify the substantial stages of the genesis of the true self. To develop authenticity, these facts should be taken into consideration.


Introduction
components: 1) self-understanding; 2) recognizing one's ontological realities objectively; 3) behavioral actions; and 4) certain features of interpersonal relationships. In the humanistic person-centered conception by Rogers (1951), authenticity is the degree to which a person's primary experience, symbolized awareness, and outward behavior and communication correspond to each other (Barrett-Lennard, 1998;Nartova-Bochaver, Reznichenko, & Maltby, 2020;Wood et al., 2008). Authenticity itself is expressed in the ability to live authentically without accepting external in uence, and the absence of self-alienation. Sheldon, Ryan, Rawsthorne, & Ilardi (1997) consider authenticity a sign of a person's self-organization (in contrast to cross-role variation as a mark of disorganization); this idea has been being developed nowadays (Ryan & Ryan, 2019).
Most of these de nitions, except for the Kernis and Goldman (2006) theory, highlight, in full accordance with the western tradition, the internal consistency of the individual and the inter-correspondence of their desires, opinions, roles, decisions, and behavior. It is noteworthy that Rogers represented a very individualistic position in the personality psychology, and the in uence of the surrounding world was clearly interpreted by him as a threat to authenticity (Strohminger et al., 2017;Sedikides, Lenton, Slabu, & omaes, 2019).
Since Russia is situated between East and West, it combines features of individualism and collectivism in its culture. erefore, we expect that the range of everyday ideas about authenticity will include both points of view. People in the eastern collectivistic cultures are eager to establish relationships with people and mutual obligations (Kagitcibasi, 2013). As Xia et al. (2021) noted, people from collectivistic cultures are more likely to accept external in uence and integrate it as a part of their sense of self, their true self.
According to Rubinstein's (2012) subject-activity approach, people are inseparable from the world, including the social one. Hence, their experience of authenticity (the true self) might re ect the "correct" quality of relations with the world, like a sense of their relevance in time and space, compliance with life's vocation, and acceptance of fate (Nartova-Bochaver, 2011). Supporters of the holistic eastern understanding of a person as part of the world de ne authenticity as harmony between oneself and one's life course, including destiny (Leontiev & Shilmanskaya, 2019).
Moreover, manifestations of personal authenticity are even trickier: sometimes actions in accordance with one's own personality are felt and considered authentic, and sometimes they are rather complementary to personality (for example, an introvert considers his/her extroverted actions as authentic ones) (Fleeson & Wilt, 2010). In other words, authenticity can be identi ed, experienced, and comprehended "from the opposite, " in non-typical or unexpected situations.
Summarizing their research on the true self, Strohminger et al. (2017) identi ed its four features as follows: 1) the true self emphasizes moral features; 2) it is valencedependent and positive by default; 3) the true self is perspective-independent and does not vary depending on whom the person describes himself/herself to; and 4) it is cross-culturally stable. ese features represent the true self as an archetype rather than as a cultural and age-sensitive phenomenon (whereas the rest of research considers authenticity just this way) and, therefore, it can hardly be studied within the framework of evidence-based positivist thinking. e development of authenticity in children of school ages: rst approaches. As our quick introduction showed, the investigation of the true self has a great number of gaps and blanks, so researchers must deal with contradictions and confusions. e genesis of authenticity and the dynamics of its ideas in everyday life is one of the most gaping lacunae. According to Rogers' person-centered approach, as a child, a person lives in harmony, feels authentic in accordance with his/her nature, relying on his/her organismic valuing and being free from outside in uences (Rogers, 1951). As a child matures, the balance between trusting him or herself and other people's assessments changes, and he/she loses the belief in his or her own feelings, and starts to trust others. School, the rst social institution, restricts the child's freedom by means of rules.
According to Erikson (1963), during the elementary school stage (ages 6-12), children face the choice of industry vs. inferiority. ey compare themselves with their classmates, and are either proud of themselves or feel inferior. All these processes contribute to the development of their senses of self and the true self, which increases at the adolescence stage (ages 12-18), when children must resolve the question of identity vs. role confusion.
Adolescents struggle with questions regarding who they are, and what they want to do in their lives. Researchers consider adolescence as the most crucial period for the development of ideas about one's true self (authenticity). Children of this age become especially sensitive to any manifestations of insincerity and learn to distinguish between the true and false self: "Although factors in uencing authenticity begin in childhood, not until adolescence are individuals actively interested in, if not concerned about, whether their behavior re ects true-self or false-self behavior" (Harter, 2002, p. 384). Consequently, it's at this life stage that people become aware of their true selves, and make an e ort to achieve authenticity (Tsang et al., 2012;Uhlendor , 2004). Authenticity bene ts adolescents: it enhances their sense of well-being, covaries with satisfaction of psychological needs for relatedness and competence, and mediates the relationship between need satisfaction and well-being (Heppner, Kernis, Nezlek, Foster, Lakey, & Goldman, 2008;omaes et al., 2017).
One of the rst studies of adolescents' authenticity, conducted on the sample of respondents ages 12 to 18, showed that young adolescents felt most authentic only when disclosing single facts of their lives to others (sincerity), whereas older teens recognized and expressed their "true" nature not occasionally, but constantly, regardless of how other people see them. (Ullman, 1987).
At the same time, Harter, Waters, Whitesell, and Kastelic (1997) noted that adolescents manifested di erent personalities depending upon whether they were interacting with their mother, father, close friends, romantic partners, or peers; this fact represented their multiple selves. us, they felt cheerless with family, happy in a group of friends, shy with a partner, open in a group of close friends, hardworking at school, reliable at work, or naughty and less responsible with peers. Some adolescents are not confused or embarrassed when they behave in di erent ways (Weir & Jose, 2010). at is because one of the critical developmental tasks in adolescence is to create multiple selves, along with the true self (Harter, Bresnick, Bouchey, & Whitesell, 1997). Developing multiple selves does not imply the cultivation of the false self. While having multiple selves is considered a normal developmental process, a false self is alluded to as the result of self-alienation. A false self is "the extent to which one is acting in ways that do not re ect one's true self as a person or the "real me. "" (Harter, Marold, Whitesell, & Cobbs, 1996, p. 360).
Self-alienation has been investigated more vigorously than authenticity, since negative phenomena are usually presented in everyday life more varied and can be understood more deeply (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Finkenauer, & Vohs, 2001). So, Harter et al. (1996) identi ed three parental and peer support variables which predict adolescents' false or true selves, namely: 1) level of support; 2) quality of support (unconditional or conditional); and 3) hope about future support. If adolescents lack these resources, they are more likely to feel self-alienated. A lower rate of self-esteem and a higher level of anxiety also contributed to the risk of false-self behavior and, as a result, the false self (Vargová et al., 2019). Rayce, Holstein, and Kreiner (2009) distinguished alienation of thoughts, actions, or personality in general, and proposed to calculate an index of alienation. O'Donnell, Schwab-Stone, and Ruchkin (2006) emphasized the role of alienation and self-estrangement in maladjustment due to being exposed to community violence.
As for the conditions for achieving authenticity, the main one is Rogers's (1951) concept of unconditional positive regard. e rest of predictors stimulating authenticity are warm relationships with parents ( eran, 2009) and security within the family (Goldner & Berenshtein-Dagan, 2016); emotion management skills (Gross & John, 2003); satisfaction of needs, especially the need for autonomy ( omaes et al., 2017); true-self behavior with parents and classmates; and knowledge of one's true self (Goldner, & Berenshtein-Dagan, 2016). Some researchers consider the school environment a threat to the authenticity of adolescents whereas homeschooling could protect them (Brown, Higgins, & Paulsen, 2003;Sarajlic, 2019).
In summary, over the course of children's school life, the true self (personal authenticity) turns into a value which can be gained through e ort. Although data about the adolescents' sense of true self is lacking, we assumed that these representations are becoming more nuanced and di erentiated, compared with primary school children. Adolescents also include the true self protectors, like gures of admired others, in their experience of the true self, along with threats of its violation (like school obligations), and its consequences for later life.
Our research was exploratory. We did not put forward explicit hypotheses because of the data de cit. Instead, we raised several research questions: 1. How do adolescents cognitively understand the meaning of "to be oneself "? 2. What role do other people play in adolescents' feelings of the "true self "? 3. What is more tangible for the true self: self-manifestation or self-alienation? 4. How do they emotionally evaluate themselves and their lives?
Our empirical research was devoted to obtaining answers to these questions.

Method
W e followed a bottom-up approach typical for an exploratory assessment (Kovács, 2019;Ullman, 1987) because of the absence of a generally accepted de nition of authenticity. To study the descriptors of authenticity in two groups (i.e., primary school children and older adolescents), a special structural interview was developed. Kernis and Goldman (2006) o ered four categories: awareness; biased self-esteem; behavior; and orientation in relationships. Wood et al. (2008) singled out three scales: authentic living, accepting external in uence, and self-alienation. A er we analyzed these parameters and discussed the de nitions and wordings, we created six iterations. Open questions were developed for ve units: 1) authentic living; 2) accepting external in uence; 3) self-alienation; 4) authentic behavior; and 5) balance between social and individual. Every subscale included two or three questions; the full interview consisted of 11 questions, ve of which were open-ended, ve close-ended, and one consisting of two parts, one open and one closed.
Two versions of the interview were prepared, one for primary school children and one for adolescents, both with the same meaning of the questions. A written form of the interview was chosen as a means of minimizing the in uence of others, letting the respondents think deeply about themselves, and being more convenient for further analysis. Writing practices are a useful tool for self-re ection (Murray, 2002;Tartakovsky, 2015); in addition, our interview seemed to have a small psychotherapeutic e ect.
To process the data, we chose qualitative content analysis, namely, the inductive method that implied nding codes and forming categories from the data without a pre-established theory (Gondim & Bendassolli, 2014;Mayring, 2000). As the codes were extracted from the data (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005;Busygina, 2013), conventional qualitative analysis was most relevant.
Two people coded the data independently to assure the analysis's validity and reliablility (Bengtsson, 2016;Erlingsson & Brysiewicz, 2017;Yardley, 2000). Similar codes were enlarged and spliced (Marks & Yardley, 2004). e categories emerged based on the code tables (White & Marsh, 2006). One independent expert performed the same task as the coder. To eliminate any ambivalence, the coders discussed the results (Yardley, 2000). A er that, the coding system was checked, and the nal categories were approved by the research group. e condensation of meaning technique was used to go from lower levels of abstraction to higher ones (Erlingsson & Brysiewicz, 2017;Kvale, 2003). A divided coding system, when several codes were found in one respondent's answer, was chosen (Marks & Yardley, 2004). erefore, the number of codes in categories of open-ended questions di ers from the overall quantity of respondents.
We compar ed groups for the following parameters: 1) cognitive appraisal of the true self; 2) relationships with others (dichotomy "I vs. others"); 3) sense of the true self; and 4) emotional perception of one's true self and life (see Appendix). We used the Chi-squared test to evaluate the di erences between the categories. e unique categories were excluded from the analysis if they were mentioned by only one group (Chi-squared test for nominal (categorical) data, 2021). We arranged the ve answers in one group to form the independent category. e codes that did not align with any category were grouped into the category Di erent.

Procedure
e study was conducted at the Russian-Tatar secondary schools in the multinational large city of Kazan. e so-called front-individual survey was used, taking into account the age characteristics of primary school children and adolescents. We conducted the survey in person, in class. We set the task and time limits at 15-20 minutes; the purpose of the interview was presented as evaluating the children's understandings of themselves and their lives. e children answered using the pencil/paper technique; they did not reveal their names. e content of the interview aroused the students' interest, provoking them to ask questions aimed at understanding their behavior, typical life situations, and share their assumptions and conclusions.

Results
As the age groups were similar in size, we show the initial numbers of categories in the tables. All the adolescents' answers were much more detailed, providing 8,509 words in total, or 51 words for each respondent on average. For primary school children, the data set included 5,402 words, or 33 words for each respondent on average. Cognitive appraisal of the true self. Eleven categories were singled out in the primary school children group, and 10 in the adolescent one (Table 1). e frequencies of categories between groups di ered signi cantly (Chi-squared = 72.47; df = 8; p < 0.01). A large number of the primary school children had problems with de ning what it meant "to be oneself, " so the categories No answer and Di erent were most frequently chosen.  Independent behavior turned out to be practically equal in two groups, whereas among adolescents, Independent thoughts were broadly represented. Most wanted to save their Self-identities and Not create the false selves, although primary school children did not identify these categories as the most essential aspects of being themselves. Primary school children denoted To be individual and Solitude more o en than adolescents. To be with other people was a category that made its appearance with the adolescents group for the rst time. Younger children preferred unique categories, like Authenticity as a value and To be a human contrary to adolescents' Near other people.
Relationships with others (Dichotomy "I vs. others"). When a person tries to be authentic, he or she has to resolve the con ict between two inclinations: the inner vs. outer and him/herself vs. others. en he/she must nd the optimal balance ( Table 2). Primary school children supposed that other people helped them understand themselves, but adolescents were convinced that others played only a moderate role in helping them discover themselves (Chi-squared = 32.00; df = 5; p < 0.01). Only adolescents identi ed the Self-orientation category.
Most respondents in both groups did not change their minds when their opinions di ered from the others' views (Chi-squared = 30.73; df = 5; p < 0.01). ey listened to their own voices more o en than other people's (Chi-squared = 15.64; df = 4; p < 0.01). Moreover, older respondents were becoming more independent; they trusted themselves more than others.
Most respondents' feelings did not di er depending upon whether they were alone or with other people; however, in adolescents, such answers were much more frequent (Chi-squared = 21.34; df = 5; p < 0.01). Adolescents emphasized their ambivalent feelings toward others, while primary school children did not.
e Sense of the true Self: is theme includes two parts, self-manifestation and self-alienation (Tables 3a and 3b). Most respondents from both groups did not know what type of their behavior re ected their true selves and what type of behavior did not. Adolescents emphasized twice as o en as primary school children that they always showed their true selves (Chi-squared = 33.81; df = 5; p < 0.01). ey needed more contact with others and their peers; when being alone, their sense of true self decreased. e category Being a subject of the action was identi ed only in that group. Adolescents identi ed Games and other activities as more inherent to their true selves than the younger group. Independent choice of activity and Listening to one's own voice is the sources of authenticity which appear at primary school age.
Although most respondents did not understand what actions best re ected their personalities, adolescents had a much broader repertoire of actions and situations that corresponded to their true selves, such as Personal responsibility, Di cult life situations, Communication, Favorite activity, and Quarrels (Chi-squared =14.75; df = 4; p < 0.01).
As for self-alienation (the opposite of being authentic), adolescents, compared with primary school children, seldom felt lost (Chi-squared = 58.10; df = 5; p < 0.01). Emotions were one of the key points for de ning one's true self. Adolescents, unlike primary school children, felt annoyed or upset when they were aggressive toward others, or were among other people. Whereas school children met their inner selves and learned to accept their feelings that might be unpleasant or negative, adolescents rather focused on judging themselves. In addition, some primary school children said that school was an unsafe place for their psychological well-being.  When being aggressive 6 / 12 Among other people 0 / 7 In the street 6 / 12 In bad situations 5 / 0

Means of self-recovery**
No answer 69 / 59 Di erent 41 / 33 When a person relaxes 20 / 13 Without awareness 9 / 0 Inner monologue 9 / 7 Among other people 7 / 14 Doing the activity one likes 6 / 6 Being alone 4 / 7 No self-alienation 5 / 34 Games 5 / 0 Note.** Di erences are signi cant at p < 0.01 Italics indicates categories that occurred only in one group (excluded from the Chi-squared test) Identifying resources for the recovery of authenticity was a very di cult task for both groups; nevertheless, their answers di ered (Chi-squared = 27.22; df = 7; p < 0.01). Relaxation, Being among other people, and Doing the activity that one likes were more valued among primary school children; Games were identi ed as a separate category only in this group. For adolescents, the role of other people was ambivalent: they preferred to share the time with others, and chose to stay alone twice more o en than the primary school children did. In addition, they o en reported the absence of self-alienation.
Emotional perception of one's true self and life. Finally, we contemplated that authenticity might appear when a person becomes immersed in him or herself, which practice helps people meet their true selves ( Table 4). As expected, this category signi cantly di erentiated primary school children and adolescents; with a high presence of unde ned descriptors in both groups, adolescents accepted and liked themselves more than primary school children did (Chi-squared = 9.39; df = 3; p < 0.05). Furthermore, most participants were satis ed with their lives, and there were no di erences between age groups on this parameter (Chi-squared = 2.02 < 9.49 at df = 4 and p = 0.05). Finally, most respondents ignored the question about the most liked aspects of their life (Chi-squared = 0.64 < 7.82 at df = 3 and p < 0.05).

Discussion
Our analysis of ideas about the true self has shown that it is not an archetype but a core component of the empirical self, which is sometimes moral, sometimes immoral, manifests itself in typical and special situations, and is able to develop with growing up. e results we obtained answered all the research questions raised in the introduction. As expected, everyday ideas of the person's sense of the true self are becoming better developed in adolescence compared to primary school age. Four categories identi ed during the content analysis of respondents' comments (cognitive appraisal of the true self; relationships with others; the sense of the true self; and emotional perception of one's true self and life) really di erentiated respondents from the two age groups; these di erences were both quantitative and qualitative. e adolescents' answers were more di erentiated and nuanced. Primary school children marked authenticity as a value and a side of their personality, whereas adolescents associated authenticity with separation from others, predominantly adults, and inclusion of signi cant others in their true selves.
As for identifying the best situations for manifestation of one's true self and the signs of it, older children mentioned being among other people and independent thinking, whereas younger ones brought up solitude and independent behavior only. It may be that the feelings and attitudes toward oneself are becoming more di erentiated as people become older, and their cognitive complexity rises (Kelly, 1955). In addition, becoming an authentic personality is closely connected with entering the worlds of others (Rubinstein, 2012). e analysis of the category Relationships with others (Dichotomy "I vs. others") showed that the adolescents observed the changes in their relationships with others: they trusted themselves, integrated various feelings toward others, and tried to nd the balance between "I" and "they. " All these steps are essential for dividing the inner world from the outer. Adolescents start listening to their own voices more o en than other people's. is is in line with Harter's et al. (1998) results, which demonstrated that having one's own voice is a crucial indicator of the true self in adolescence, and is bound to adolescents' independent thinking as a manifestation of their personal authenticity.
As for the category Sense of the true self, most respondents in both groups were not aware of which were the situations and behaviors when their true selves appeared. Regarding self-alienation, they demonstrated important di erences: whereas primary school children lost a sense of themselves in situations where they were victims (in the school or a street; generally, in "bad" situations), adolescents felt self-alienated when they themselves were agents of aggression Hence, they realized that they could o end others and distanced themselves most when they were vulnerable to others. ese facts are easily interpreted, considering that adolescents appreciate social connections much more than primary school children do.
Finally, analysis of the category emotional perception of one's true self and life showed that both children and adolescents failed in being able to interpret their feelings; the observer self had not yet been formed. However, they were engaged in their private lives, and generally, most respondents were satis ed with both their true selves and lives. Some di culties in describing their experience existed because they were still developing cognitively, emotionally, and personally. e fact that most respondents ignored the question about the most liked aspects of their true selves demonstrates a lack of re ection and perspective-taking, which might be overcome at the next stage of development. Now, we can answer the research questions raised in our study.
1. How do adolescents and primary school children cognitively understand the meaning of "to be oneself "? Younger respondents associate the true self with independent actions, while older ones try to show their real selves to others. 2. What role do other people play in adolescents' feelings of the "true self "?
The opposition between the individual self and other people, proclaimed by Rogers, has not been shown: the respondents in both groups listened to their inner voices and built strong and enriching relationships with others. 3. What is more tangible for the true self, self-manifestation or self-alienation?
As for the sense of the true self, it is more easily felt and understood in selfmanifestation than in self-alienation. We concluded that adolescents and primary school children had never thought about losing their sense of self. 4. How do they emotionally evaluate themselves and their lives? Most respondents appreciated life and themselves, and this positive feeling gives them an opportunity to accept themselves and becoming authentic.
To sum up, the sense of a true self is still far from being mature among both primary school children and adolescents. eir selves are not integrated, but authenticity is discovered in daily representations and experience. Moreover, contrary to Rogers' (1951) belief that people are authentic only at an early age, and that they lose authenticity because others in uence them, we have discovered that the sense of authenticity is enhanced by adolescence, and the social world makes a positive contribution to its maturation.

Conclusion
e analysis of the descriptors among primary school children and adolescents allowed us to identify the main tendencies of personal authenticity development during these age periods. First, whereas the primary school children only recognized what it meant to be oneself, adolescents showed they already understood the concept when they chose to hide themselves. Secondly, associations with the true self stimulated by the interview questions were more positive in the older respondents. Finally, whereas in younger children the true self was connected with individualistic tendencies like looking for solitude, and a negative attitude toward the school, adolescents' experiences of both authenticity and self-alienation were tightly bound to the social world, which is an inseparable part of their true selves. e results obtained can be the basis for further research, perhaps with emerging adults.

Ethics Statement
is research was approved by the Commission for the Ethical Evaluation of Empirical Research Projects of the Department of Psychology of the NRU HSE.

Informed Consent from the Participants' Legal Guardians (if the participants were minors)
Written informed consent to participate in this study and to publish results anonymously was provided by the parents of the minor respondents.

Author Contributions
S. N.-B. developed the theory, supervised the ndings, and wrote a dra ; R.B. and K.C. developed the method and performed an empirical study; V.Y. developed the theory, performed the computations, wrote a dra , and revised the paper a er reviewers' suggestions. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the nal manuscript.