8 signs you radiate confidence and authenticity, according to psychology

What do others see when they look at you?

Do they see someone who’s meek and mild? Perhaps worse, do they see someone who’s so normal as to be completely forgettable?

Or do people look at you and see a confident and authentic person who they can look up to, admire, and even emulate?

To be honest, it can be hard to say precisely how others view you, but there are clues in their behavior and your own that might give you an idea.

So, if you’re interested in finding out how others view you and whether you really put out great vibes, here are eight signs you radiate confidence and authenticity, according to psychology.

1) You have great relationships.

If you have great relationships in your life, you’re probably radiating a lot more confidence than people who don’t.

That’s the message of a big meta-study that looked at the combined results of many individual studies of confidence and self-esteem, totaling over 47,000 participants.

The authors suggest that positive relationships in our lives help to build our confidence. At the same time, confident people are better equipped to build positive, healthy relationships, so there’s a feedback cycle at work here.

According to them, “positive social relationships, social support, and social acceptance help shape the development of self-esteem.”

This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

After all, we humans are social animals who thrive when we have great relationships and suffer when we have bad ones or none at all.

So children who have great relationships with their parents gain confidence from a young age. After that, strong friendships, family relationships, and romantic relationships help to continue to bolster self-confidence throughout our lives.

2) You take effective action.

One big sign that you radiate confidence and authenticity is that you take effective action.

But what does this really mean?

According to the Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology, this means that you have the ability to enact actions that produce your desired outcomes. In other words, you get things done that bring you toward your goals in life.

The important thing to point out here is that you actually do things rather than just planning or talking about taking action.

So many people will talk big but not have a lot to show for it. These people may sound confident, but if they don’t follow through on what they say they’ll do, they end up losing points in the authenticity department.

The other important point is that not only do you do things but you do them well and successfully. And this can start to build your confidence from childhood.

According to the same handbook, “Feelings of self-confidence and self-efficacy grow from mastery experiences. Children who feel effective persist in the face of failure and achieve greater success because of their efforts.”

So, the key is to keep trying until you succeed, and your confidence will grow.

3) You take risks.

If you want to know if you’re a person who truly radiates authenticity and confidence, another sign is that you take risks in your life.

This makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

People who stay well within their comfort zones and never try to push their limits aren’t the sort of people we normally associate with lots of confidence, are they?

Instead, they seem sheepish and timid.

But people who try to extend themselves beyond where they currently are able to do so because they’re confident and self-assured.

That doesn’t mean that they never fail, of course.

It simply means that they’re able to work past the specter of failure and push on. They feel the fear and do it anyway, to borrow a phrase.

This link between confidence and risk-taking can be found in all sorts of areas from financial risks, romantic risks, and career risks. Confident people put themselves out there and are less afraid of failing than they are of not taking risks and expanding their horizons.

4) People tell you they admire you.

Want a clear sign that you radiate self-confidence and authenticity?

How about if people tell you that you do?

What could be clearer than that?

After all, if you radiate these characteristics, others are sure to pick up on them and view you in these ways.

Do people often tell you that you seem to have a lot of confidence? Do they tell you that what they really like about you is that you’re real?

You might think I’m just talking about your friends or loved ones, but the truth is that even people who hardly know you can quickly interpret your personality.

It may surprise you if someone you’ve just met says something like, “Wow, I wish I had your confidence!” but it shouldn’t.

This just means you’re exuding so much that anyone can pick up on it.

5) Your self-concept is healthy and balanced.

What does it mean to have a balanced and healthy self-concept?

This basically means that when you think about yourself, who you are, and what you’re worth, your perception is based on reality and isn’t overly positive or negative.

No one is perfect, and certainly, no one is 100% terrible either. But you’d be surprised how many people think of themselves this way.

People who think they’re absolutely the cat’s meow are generally seen as conceited and big-headed. People who think they have nothing positive about themselves are perceived as having no self-confidence and as being overly negative.

But if you have a more balanced view of yourself, taking into account your strengths and weaknesses, achievements, and failures, people will see you as realistic and authentic.

And you view yourself in a more positive light and still be seen this way? 

Of course – you’ll just be seen as confident!

6) People come to you for advice.

One great sign that you’re really putting out vibes of authenticity and confidence is that others come to you for advice.

I don’t mean the random “What should I do?” when sudden issues come up.

I mean, people actively seek you out and ask to get your real opinion on something they’re dealing with.

This means that people think you’re both intelligent and empathetic enough to consider their situation deeply and give them guidance that they’ll really respect and intend to take.

When people do follow your advice, it gives you a feeling of value that reinforces and builds on your self-confidence.

So, people seek you out because you seem real and self-assured, and this helps you become even more confident in your life.

7) You’re successful.

Success has been linked directly to self-confidence by a lot of research.

According to psychology, people tend to increase in confidence throughout their lives from youth to middle age when they tend to peak. 

One study suggests that the reason is because of success:

“Midlife is a time of highly stable work, family, and romantic relationships. People increasingly occupy positions of power and status, which might promote feelings of self-esteem.”

Another study links income directly to confidence and authenticity:

“There is substantial empirical support for the notion that authenticity in the form of true self-expression is more likely to be experienced when one’s position in a given hierarchy is higher in power.”

Does that mean that if you make less money, you’ll automatically feel worse about yourself, while more income makes you feel that you’re great? 

Let’s remember that this research is based on averages and discovers patterns from thousands of participants. But what’s consistent is that people who view themselves as successful are also more confident than people who feel like they’re not achieving or living up to their potential.

8) You’re happy.

Can you be happy without being confident?

Can you be an authentic person without being happy?

The answer to both of these questions is a resounding “Probably not!”

Since confidence is an assessment of your ability to be effective or achieve success in your tasks, it would be strange that feeling you can’t achieve success (low confidence) would make you happy.

Research has also shown that when people perform actions that make them feel authentic, they feel more positive emotions and more satisfaction.

In other words, the more you feel like you’re acting like your true self, the happier you’ll be.

So if you’re a generally happy person, you’re probably living in a way that’s true to who you really are, and you feel like you’re able to achieve the things that you want to do.

Your happiness will be an external sign to other people of how you feel on the inside.

Bottom line

Can you relate to these eight signs you radiate confidence and authenticity according to psychology?

If you can, people will likely see you as a real and confident person. You give off an energy and a self-assuredness that can inspire others to try to follow your example.

Because of this, you probably also make a great leader, advisor, partner, and friend.