Lydia Needy on authenticity among LGBTQ individuals
Lydia Needy earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Missouri State University, double majoring in Philosophy and Psychology. She went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Experimental Psychology with a Graduate Certificate in Statistics and Research Design. She is now a PhD student in the Social and Personality Psychology program at Texas A&M University, working with Dr. Joshua Hicks. She is interested in topics related to authenticity and meaning in life, such as better understanding where feelings of authenticity (i.e., embracing one’s true self) come from and the relationships between perceived authenticity, meaning in life, and well-being. Specifically, she’s interested in the experiences of authenticity, self-knowledge, and meaning among individuals with concealable stigmatized identities and how the act of concealing aspects of one's identity shapes perceptions of self-knowledge and the experience of authenticity.
Lydia on the web: Lab Page | Google Scholar
By Muireann O’Dea, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau. March 2, 2026.
ISSEP: How did you first become aware of and interested in existentialism and the science of existential psychology?
Lydia Needy: I first became aware of existentialism in my undergrad. I was a philosophy major before I even thought about psychology. The first philosophy class I took, I honestly hated. The instructor only talked about robots and it just didn't click. But I gave it another shot, took an ethics course through the philosophy department, and fell in love with philosophy, making it my major.
The blend with psychology, specifically existential psychology, came during my master's program. My advisor suggested I read an article by Dr. Becca Schlegel, who is now one of my PhD advisors, about the true self and decision satisfaction. Honestly, at first, I was like, 'I don't think a true self exists; that's so obnoxious!' But the more I read her work, the more I enjoyed it and I ended up doing my master's thesis on True Self beliefs and meaning in life, heavily citing both Dr. Schlegel and Dr. Josh Hicks. It’s wild now to be in a lab working directly with them; I was star-struck during my interview! I grew up in a Christian family, so I think my existential interests were always there growing up, in the context of religious beliefs about meaning, but it all merged together into existential psychology through my university studies.
I feel incredibly lucky to do this work. Existential psychology allows me to blend philosophy, emotion, and human experience in ways that feel meaningful. It’s easy to get lost in deadlines and data, but when I step back, I realize I get to ask questions that matter to me—questions about meaning, self-knowledge, marginalized identities and what it means to live authentically. And that’s something I never take for granted.
ISSEP: You’ve been doing some great research in existential psychology lately. Can you tell us more about your work?
Lydia Needy: My PhD is in social and personality psychology, but I'm definitely more focused on the existential side, being in the Existential Psychology Collaboratory here at A&M. I came into the field really interested in meaning in life and the true self, but I’ve been drawn more to authenticity and self-knowledge, especially within the context of marginalized identities that aren't typically featured as much in academic work.
For example, I look at concealable stigmatized identities (CSIs)—things like sexual orientation, mental illness, or hidden pain. We have a paper currently under revise and resubmit that found if you use a concealment strategy called identity avoidance—actively withdrawing from conversations about that identity—you have decreased levels of self-knowledge. We measured this as lower self-concept clarity and higher self-alienation. It took three years and six studies to get that data, which was a huge lesson that research takes forever!
I also got an ISSEP grant to experimentally test the Social Fit part of the State Authenticity as Fit to the Environment model (SAFE; Schmader & Sedikides, 2017) in an LGBTQ sample here at Texas A&M. We manipulated social fit during a mock interview by having the research assistant’s laptop display either a progressive pride flag sticker (social fit) or a traditional values matter sticker (non-fit). We found that those in the pride flag condition reported higher state authenticity. We also found that this effect was moderated by self-alienation: those who were already high in self-alienation (less certain of who they are) took a much greater hit to their authenticity in the non-fit condition, while those low in self-alienation were relatively unfazed.
ISSEP: Fascinating! How did you develop your interests in authenticity?
Lydia Needy: The interest developed from a very general idea—I came into the program with the simple knowledge that I liked meaning in life and true self—to a more specific focus on authenticity. Across my three years, authenticity became the piece that resonated most, and the importance of self-ownership. I can’t help but think of authenticity from a more marginalized lens, because marginalized individuals still have to exist in these challenging low-social fit environments.
So, I began to ask: how can individuals still show up authentically in these spaces? Our past research suggests that if you have high levels of self-knowledge, even if you’re in a threatening situation, you can still have high levels of authenticity. That’s why I looked at concealable stigmatized identities and LGBTQ individuals—it's about studying authenticity in contexts where it's hard, where it's effortful, and where it sometimes comes with a negative kind of valence. For me, authenticity comes from really knowing who you are but also embracing and owning that in the decisions that you make and how you show up in the world. So, I really think this ownership part is key.
ISSEP: What do you think are some of the remaining issues for this research topic?
Lydia Needy: I think we need to challenge the idea that authenticity is always easy or effortless. For many people, especially those with marginalized identities, being authentic can actually require effort and courage. That’s what I’m hoping to do my dissertation on—the idea of effortful authenticity. It proposes that you can be authentic even when it’s hard, especially for individuals that find it hard to show up as themselves in spaces that don’t align. We haven’t paid enough attention to these marginalized individuals in this research area.
Also, I would like to explore if authenticity could be considered a facet of meaning in life. I like focusing on marginalized individuals, but I’m also interested in these existential concepts, more broadly speaking. I definitely want to continue my research in the field of existential psychology.
Lastly, I would love to incorporate more qualitative work to really understand what concepts like self-knowledge and authenticity mean to these individuals.
ISSEP: In what ways can your research help us make sense of important human experiences, better understand important events, or inform our cultural or technological trends?
Lydia Needy: My research ideas typically stem from experiences that I’ve noticed from having certain identities. My aim is that my research can support and validate these experiences with data, so others don’t feel quite as alone. It’s stuff that I wish I knew when I was younger and still trying to figure things out. And when we ran the study with LGBTQ individuals, lots of them thanked me for doing this research which felt very meaningful, to have contributed to research on my own community.
I think my research adds a nuance to how we understand psychological well-being for marginalized people. For one, it provides empirical support for the struggles people face—the data shows that avoiding conversations about an identity (identity avoidance) actually hurts your self-knowledge.
More importantly, the research with the LGBTQ sample shows that the impact of a threatening environment isn't just a simple, deterministic process. The models hypothesize that if you have a devalued identity and go into a non-fit environment, you'll feel inauthentic. But we found that if you're confident in yourself—if you have low self-alienation and high self-concept clarity—you can actually have relatively high levels of authenticity, even in a threatening situation. It might be more effortful, but it's possible. This is vital because it shifts the focus from just documenting the harm to understanding a mechanism for resilience.
ISSEP: Do you see your research topic when you look at arts and culture?
Lydia Needy: Definitely. I think identity avoidance shows up in many films and stories, especially within queer culture. For example, the French historical drama film Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) captures the pain of hiding your identity because of societal expectations, and the neo-Western romantic drama film Brokeback Mountain (2005), explore the lifelong effects of concealment and not being your most authentic self. These stories echo what my research shows: that hiding your true self can be deeply alienating, even when it feels necessary, and I find it very sad. It persuades me even further that we should live this life authentically because we don’t know for sure what comes after this.
ISSEP: You’ve attended and presented research at our Existential Psychology Pre-conferences; how was your experience with that?
Lydia Needy: It’s honestly one of my favorite academic spaces. I’ve presented there a few times, and every time I walk away in complete awe of the research everyone is doing. This year, I presented research showing that authenticity can also emerge from bottom-up experiences—like when a task feels natural or fluent, you’re probably going to feel more authentic doing the task. Being surrounded by people who are dedicated to the same research I am is probably my favorite part.
ISSEP: What is some advice you would give to future students who have an interest in following in your footsteps?
Lydia Needy: My biggest advice is to take time and get to know yourself, what you like and what you don’t like. I think it can help to have different experiences, try hobbies, join different clubs, volunteer and keep an open mind before you make any big decisions. Theres so much pressure when you’re young to have it all figured out, but I think being open-minded and learning more about yourself is key. If you want to study existential psychology, absolutely go for it, just make sure it’s what you want and you know why you want it.
ISSEP: Can you tell us a little about yourself outside the work/research context?
Lydia Needy: Outside of research, I love CrossFit, running marathons, and spending time outdoors. I also love traveling and reading, though with being in a PhD program I don’t get to read for fun as much as I’d like! My partner is also doing a PhD so we talk about our research interests a lot and how we can combine them. My family has taught me a lot about resilience and perspective. My siblings, especially, keep me humble—they’re my reality check outside academia.
ISSEP: A lot of us like to listen to music while working or otherwise; what are you listening to lately?
Lydia Needy: When I’m working it’s usually silent – I don’t like to get distracted. For more low intensity work, I would probably listen to an artist like Cece Coakley. The song I’ve listened to the most by her is 865 so I would recommend that one.