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The Impostor Phenomenon
Abstract
The Impostor Phenomenon was identified from clinical observations during therapeutic sessions with high achieving women by Dr Pauline Clance. Despite objective evidence of success, these women had a pervasive psychological experience believing that they were intellectual frauds and feared being recognised as impostors. They suffered from anxiety, fear of failure and dissatisfaction with life. This article reviews definitions and characteristics of trait Impostorism, some antecedents, such as personality and family achievement environment and psychological distress as a consequence of Impostorism.
... Subsequent scholarship further described the process of IP by suggesting IP manifested in a recognizable cycle (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). The cycle of IP begins with constantly worrying that others will expose their self-perceived incompetence. ...
... Instead, they attribute their success to an external source (e.g., luck), not internal attributions such as their competence. Afterward, worry about being exposed as a fraud or impostor reemerges, and the IP cycle repeats (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). ...
... The United States published the majority (63.1% or 252) of IP articles. This was followed by the United Kingdom (n = 27 or 6.7%), Canada (n = 16 or 4.0%), Australia (n = 14 or 3.5%), and Germany (n = 11 or 2.7%), India (n = 8 or 2%), Israel (n = 8 or 2%), Austria (n = 6 or 1.5%), and Brazil (n = 4 or 1% Clance and Imes (1978) 2304 Solorzano and Yosso (2001) 1487 Henning et al. (1998) 612 Clance and O'Toole (1987) 585 Striegel-Moore et al. (1993) 389 Cokley et al. (2013) 361 Langford and Clance (1993) 353 Reis (1987) 351 Chrisman et al. (1995) 345 Sakulku and Alexander (2011) 281 Note. The complete reference for each article can be found in the reference section to the IP literature concerning its size, time (e.g., growth rate), space (distribution), and composition (intellectual structure). ...
The impostor phenomenon was introduced over four decades ago and has become an increasingly popular research topic. Nonetheless, few empirical investigations offer a quantitative analysis of the patterns and structures within the impostor phenomenon’s literature base. This limits researchers to an incomplete and reactive understanding of the scope and trajectory of research about the impostor phenomenon. The current investigation utilized bibliometric analyses (e.g., science mapping and performance analysis) to illuminate prominent contributors and the latent themes within the impostor phenomenon literature. The findings identified important characteristics of the impostor phenomenon literature, such as the most dominant or published authors, frequently cited articles, its global existence across countries, and its rapidly increasing rate of published articles. The findings also illuminated research streams within the impostor phenomenon literature and identified the emerging trend of examining the impostor phenomenon within the STEM context. Implications for future impostor phenomenon research and scholarship are discussed.
... IP-typical self-perceptions of inability might hinder the process of learning a second language, as the latter requires learners to engage in active learning, experience progress throughout their learning process, and have positive experiences when utilizing their skill set. We expected that the IP is negatively associated with L2 learning because the IP robustly relates to experiences of underachievement, irrespective of actual achievements (Sakulku and Alexander, 2011). To address this, we collected data from Iranian L2 learners and tested the association between the IP and willingness to communicate (WTC), an immediate predictor of L2 use (MacIntyre et al., 1998). ...
... The IP is unrelated to age, study fields, and vocations (Sakulku and Alexander, 2011). Findings on gender differences are mixed, with some studies showing that women experience on average higher levels of IP than men, but effect sizes are small (e.g., Chrisman et al., 1995;Brauer and Wolf, 2016;Badawy et al., 2018). ...
... Comparisons between students and working professionals showed that the IP is more pronounced among university students, with robust effects of medium size (Hedges' gs ≈ 0.50; Proyer, 2017, 2019;Neureiter and Traut-Mattausch, 2016). The IP relates to numerous negative consequences concerning mental health (e.g., greater levels of anxiety, depressiveness, and neuroticism; e.g., Sakulku and Alexander, 2011;Vergauwe et al., 2015) and one's career. For example, Impostors show less inclinations to career planning and-striving, less motivation to lead, lower occupational self-efficacy, fewer resources for adapting in their careers, and lower job satisfaction to name but a few (Vergauwe et al., 2015;Traut-Mattausch, 2016, 2017). ...
The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) describes experiences of perceived intellectual fraudulence despite the existence of objectively good performances, and it is a robust predictor of experiences and outcomes in higher education. We examined the role of the IP in the domain of second language (L2) acquisition by testing its relations with a robust predictor of L2 use, willingness to communicate (WTC). We collected self-reports of 400 adult Iranian L2 learners and tested the associations between the IP and WTC. As expected, we found a negative association between IP and WTC (r = -.13). When testing a mediation model with perceived competence and communication anxiety as parallel mediators, we found evidence for full mediation via perceived competence. Our findings show the importance of considering self-evaluations in the domain of L2 acquisition. Further implications and limitations are discussed.
... These are qualities that have traditionally been required of those working in marketing positions in companies (Laalo et al., 2019). The new requirements are particularly challenging for individuals prone to IS, who are often introverted, experience severe performance pressure, and continuously compare themselves to others (e.g., Cisco, 2020;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). ...
... Since the 1990s, researchers have looked at the connection of IS, among other things, to individual self-confidence and the ability to tolerate comparison, competition, and evaluation. The phenomena closely associated with IS also include introversion, perfectionism, fear of failure, and self-harming patterns of action (Pannhausen et al., 2020;Royse Roskowski, 2010;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). Despite this, empirical studies have considered IS to be its own independent phenomenon, which is different from other close concepts of the same type (Leonhardt et al., 2017). ...
... Clance and Imes (1978) originally interpreted IS as a problem for educated, talented women in demanding jobs. However, later studies also showed that men experience IS (Clance & O'Toole, 1987;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). There is no clear evidence of the 1 Clance herself preferred to use the term impostor phenomenon because she wanted to avoid the hallmark of pathology associated with the term impostor syndrome. ...
Impostor syndrome (IS) refers to the inner speech of self-doubt and the belief that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. The university can be considered a work environment prone to IS, especially because of the requirements of present higher education and science policy, which emphasizes continuous evaluation, a competitive spirit, and a focus on performance and excellence. It is therefore understandable that many doctoral students have begun to experience inadequacy and uncertainty during their postgraduate studies. This study focuses on the prevalence of IS among Finnish PhD students (n = 1694). In particular, attention is paid to the background factors in which experiences of uncertainty and attitudes related to IS are linked. Theoretically, we interpret IS as a phenomenon related to the habitus formed through an individual’s life experiences and the inner speech associated with it. Based on the results of the linear regression analysis, the lack of encouragement in childhood and a low level of planning when applying for doctoral studies explain the emergence of IS in a statistically significant manner.
... Those experiencing IP will express awareness of how others see them, but believe these accolades are not earned. 5,6 Despite external opinions relating success, those with IP lack the confidence they can replicate past success, therefore, maintaining the perceived ''ruse'' of success becomes their goal. ...
... This often leads to a significant amount of fear that can be associated with a focus on self-monitoring behaviors, [6][7][8] and can lead to anxiety, depression, decreased job satisfaction, lack of confidence, and an inability to achieve goals. Since being described, IP has been identified in many high-achieving professions across a variety of fields, including health care and associated with significant anxiety, psychological distress, and these and other mental health consequences subsequently lead to burnout. ...
... It has also been associated with careers where objective measures of success are not always aligned with the quality of the product or work. 6,14 In addition, within professions where one gender predominates, individuals of the opposite gender are more likely to display impostor behavior. 14 Extensive data demonstrate that women in medicine face many extrinsic challenges and barriers such as a lack of mentors, 17 explicit discrimination, and gender bias, pay disparities, 18 and a lack of recognition for equal work. ...
... Impostor phenomenon is defined as a "pervasive psychological experience of a person believing they are a self-perceived intellectual fraud and fearing they may be recognized as an impostor" (Sakulku and Alexander, 2011). In the academic literature, the term "impostor phenomenon" is used, however, in the lay literature, the term "imposter syndrome" is more common (Bravata et al., 2020). ...
... Instead, they appear stuck in a pattern of continually underestimating themselves and undervaluing their abilities (Clance and O'Toole, 1987). As a consequence, impostors are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem and other psychological issues, such as depression and anxiety (Sakulku and Alexander, 2011;Bravata et al., 2020). Consequently, Bravata et al. (2020) call for the impostor syndrome to be classified as a disorder and propose that evidencebased education and therapeutic interventions are needed to alleviate this psychological impact and better support those struggling with impostor feelings. ...
... Both fixed mindsets and impostors seemingly operate from a pervasive fixed sense of self and ability, impacting wellbeing and motivation (Sakulku and Alexander, 2011;Dweck, 2017). Impostors demonstrate characteristics suggesting they have fixed mindsets (Kumar and Jagacinski, 2006). ...
This study aims to investigate the relationship between mindset and impostor phenomenon, via the explanatory role of fear of failure and goal orientation in the work domain. Only one known study has previously connected mindset and impostor phenomenon in the scientific literature among females in a university setting. Data was collected from 201 working adults, with a roughly equal male-female ratio, from a range of sectors in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and United States. Participants completed an online survey comprising the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale, the Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory, Work Domain Goal Orientation Instrument, and the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS). We tested a serial-parallel mediation model using structural equation modeling. The results suggest that people with a fixed mindset tend to experience more impostor phenomenon at work and this relationship is predominantly explained by their fear of failure. Further, when employees are also motivated by a performance avoid goal orientation, the relationship increases in strength. This indirect relationship suggests that staff training, and coaching interventions designed to increase people’s belief that they can develop their abilities results in a reduction of their fear of failure and in their motivation to want to avoid showing their inability at work. The results also suggest cultivating environments that promote a growth mindset and learning goal orientation, alongside the safety to fail, could lessen the negative effects of having a fixed mindset, reduce fear of failure, and alleviate impostor phenomenon’s negative impact on employee career development and wellbeing.
... The impact of IP creates barriers to performance optimization and self-actualization (Wulandari & Tjundjing, 2007). Individuals who experience this phenomenon have the misconception of ideal success due to the need to be special and be the best (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). In addition, they also have fear of failure and avoid challenging tasks (Chandra et al., 2019). ...
... In addition, they also have fear of failure and avoid challenging tasks (Chandra et al., 2019). Impostor disregards their success when there is a gap between their actual performance and their ideal standard, which is why they tend to discount of positive feedback (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). They will experience pressure when they receive praise because they have to maintain their image as someone who deserves it, but ironically they consider their hard work just a matter of luck (McDowell, Boyd, & Bowler, 2007). ...
... Unrealistic expectations cause people to grow up without knowing their true talents and capabilities. Research on family relationships and IP originated from Bussotti's dissertation (cited by Sakulku and Alexander, 2011), she investigated that feelings of imposter arise from families and individuals who lack communication, have rule-controlled behavior, and are filled http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/tazkiya This is an open access article under CC-BY-SA license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ...
New students tend to experience the stress and anxiety of transitioning from the school environment to the campus environment. Anxiety in dealing with new situations or roles can lead to the Impostor Phenomenon (IP). This study aimed to determine the effect of family relationships, general anxiety, and the Big-five personality traits on impostor phenomena. The sample of this study was 439 first and second-year students taken by the non-probability sampling technique. The measuring instruments used in this research are Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), Brief Family Relationships Scale (BFRS), Four-Dimensional Anxiety Scale (FDAS), and Big-five Inventory (BFI). Data analysis in this study used Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and multiple regression analysis techniques. The results showed a significant effect of family relationships, general anxiety, and the Big-five personality traits on the impostor phenomenon. Based on testing the minor hypothesis, there are six significant variables: emotional, physiological, cognitive, behaviour, extraversion, and awareness.
... People who experience this feeling of fraudulence (Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991), despite outstanding academic and professional recognition and success, may secretly harbor the idea that they do not deserve the success and recognition they have achieved. They believe they are less competent and less intelligent than they appear to be, that they have fooled everyone who thinks otherwise, and live with fear that sooner or later others will discover they are impostors (Clance & O'Toole, 1987;Clance et al., 1995;Harvey & Katz, 1985;Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). The impostor phenomenon was originally observed among high achieving women, but more recent research has documented impostor fears among men and women, in many professional settings, and across different ethnic and racial groups (for a review see Bravata et al., 2020). ...
... When faced with a new achievement-related task, impostors are plagued by selfdoubt, anxiety, and fear of failure (e.g., Clance & Imes, 1978;Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991;Thompson et al., 2000). They may react to the anxiety either by extreme over-preparation, or initial procrastination followed by frenzied preparation (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). If their performance results in success, impostors experience an initial sense of relief and accomplishment, but these feelings are short lived. ...
... We may imagine that, due to these pathogenic beliefs, impostors are unable to think that they deserve their achievements, think they are faking being competent and capable, and that, soon or later, their "true" hidden nature will be revealed. This fear keeps anxiety always active, prompting impostors to implement strategies such as over preparation or procrastination (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011) to cope with constant self-doubt and fear of failure (e.g., Clance & Imes, 1978;Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991;Thompson et al., 2000). In fact, impostors fear that their inadequacy may be exposed publicly when their competence or abilities are evaluated (Clance & O'Toole, 1987;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011), probably as a consequence of the fact that they consider failure as evidence of the unworthiness of their whole self and as a confirmation of their pathogenic beliefs thus becoming particularly vulnerable to shame, humiliation and depressive feelings (Thompson et al., 1998(Thompson et al., , 2000. ...
The impostor phenomenon (Clance, 1985) refers to the psychological experience of individuals who perceive themselves as intellectual frauds and fear of being exposed as impostors. Previous studies suggest that the fear of failure, the fear of success, and low self-esteem are preconditions that foster the occurrence of impostor feelings (e.g., Neureiter & Traut-Mattausch, 2016). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the impostor phenomenon and interpersonal guilt as conceived in Control-Mastery Theory (Faccini et al., 2020), and their association with anxiety and depression. Methods. 343 subjects completed the Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scale-15s (IGRS-15s; Faccini et al, 2020), the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS; Clance, 1985), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1983), and the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II; Beck et al., 1996). Results. As expected, impostor phenomenon was significantly associated with self-hate, survivor guilt and omnipotence guilt. The hypothesis that these kinds of guilt and the impostor phenomenon can contribute to anxiety and depression has also been confirmed. Conclusions. This study suggests that people who experience impostor fears struggle with maladaptive feelings of guilt related to pathogenic beliefs about oneself and significant others, favoring depression and anxiety. Therefore, working on these aspects can be essential in treating these patients.
... Daha sonra bu özellikler altı temel başlık altında toplanarak son halini almıştır. Bu özellikler ve detaylı açıklamaları şu şekildedir (Sakulku ve Alexander, 2011 Sahtekârlık fenomeninin varlığından bahsedebilmek için sayılan tüm bu özelliklerin hepsine sahip olmak şart değildir. Ancak en az iki özellik mevcut ise sahtekârlık duygularının mevcut olduğu söylenebilir. ...
... Sahtekârlık duyguların temel olarak başarısız olma korkusuna dayanmaktadır (Clance ve OToole, 1987). Bu nedenle sahtekârlık fenomenine sahip olan bireyler olası başarısızlık riskinden kaçınmanın bir yolu olarak aşırı çalışma eğilimi gösterebilmektedir (Sakulku ve Alexander, 2011). Sahtekârlık eğilimi içindeki bireyler için başarı mutluluk demek değildir. ...
Günümüzde örgütlerin önemi gün geçtikçe daha da artmaktadır. Ulus ve uluslararası örgütlerin çoklu fonksiyonları ve etkileri, örgüt kültürü ve örgütsel davranış alanında yapılacak olan yeni çalışmaları/araştırmaları zorunlu kılmaktadır. Kitabımızda hitap etmeyi amaçladığımız hedef kitleyi bu yeni kavramlarla tanıştırmak ve yapılacak yeni araştırmalara zemin hazırlamak öncelikli gayemiz olmuştur. Örgütsel davranış alanındaki kavram ve araştırmalara ilgi duyan araştırmacılara, akademisyenlere, karar vericilere, uygulayıcılara, öğrencilere bilgi ve ulusal yazına katkı sağlamayı amaçlayan kitabımız 28 yazarın katkı sunduğu 21 bölümden oluşmaktadır. Serimizin ilk kitabının konu dağılımından da anlaşılacağı üzere bu çalışmalar örgütsel davranış alanında çok önemli bir boşluğu dolduracağı gibi yeni çalışmalara da kaynaklık edeceği iddiasını taşımaktadır. Ülkemizde yaşanan asrın felaketi olarak adlandırılan Kahramanmaraş merkezli on bir ili etkileyen depremlerden dolayı oldukça zor, sıkıntılı ve stresli bir süreç içerisinde kitap çalışmamızı tamamlamış bulunmaktayız. Bu depremlerden doğrudan etkilenen bölüm yazarlarımızın zor şartlarda kitabımıza katkı sağlamış olmaları takdire şayandır. Bu nedenle öncelikle bu eserin ortaya çıkabilmesi için yoğun bir emek, özveri, sabır ile katkı ve destek sağlayan birbirinden değerli, alanında uzman tüm bölüm yazarlarımıza teşekkürlerimi ve şükranlarımı sunmayı bir borç bilirim. Ayrıca kitaba sunuş yazma inceliğini göstererek bizleri onurlandıran, sahip olduğu bilgi ve tecrübelerle her zaman yolumu aydınlatan ve bana rol model olan Değerli Hocam Prof. Dr. Mustafa TAŞLIYAN’a, kitabın yayına hazırlanmasında titizlikle çalışan Özgür Yayınevi ve çalışanlarına, kitap yazım sürecinde desteğini esirgemeyen ve bugünlere gelmemi sağlayan aileme, değerli hocalarıma, arkadaşlarıma ve siz değerli okuyuculara sonsuz teşekkürlerimi ve saygılarımı sunarım.
... Daha sonra bu özellikler altı temel başlık altında toplanarak son halini almıştır. Bu özellikler ve detaylı açıklamaları şu şekildedir (Sakulku ve Alexander, 2011 Sahtekârlık fenomeninin varlığından bahsedebilmek için sayılan tüm bu özelliklerin hepsine sahip olmak şart değildir. Ancak en az iki özellik mevcut ise sahtekârlık duygularının mevcut olduğu söylenebilir. ...
... Sahtekârlık duyguların temel olarak başarısız olma korkusuna dayanmaktadır (Clance ve OToole, 1987). Bu nedenle sahtekârlık fenomenine sahip olan bireyler olası başarısızlık riskinden kaçınmanın bir yolu olarak aşırı çalışma eğilimi gösterebilmektedir (Sakulku ve Alexander, 2011). Sahtekârlık eğilimi içindeki bireyler için başarı mutluluk demek değildir. ...
Günümüzde örgütlerin önemi gün geçtikçe daha da artmaktadır. Ulus ve uluslararası örgütlerin çoklu fonksiyonları ve etkileri, örgüt kültürü ve örgütsel davranış alanında yapılacak olan yeni çalışmaları/araştırmaları zorunlu kılmaktadır. Kitabımızda hitap etmeyi amaçladığımız hedef kitleyi bu yeni kavramlarla tanıştırmak ve yapılacak yeni araştırmalara zemin hazırlamak öncelikli gayemiz olmuştur. Örgütsel davranış alanındaki kavram ve araştırmalara ilgi duyan araştırmacılara, akademisyenlere, karar vericilere, uygulayıcılara, öğrencilere bilgi ve ulusal yazına katkı sağlamayı amaçlayan kitabımız 28 yazarın katkı sunduğu 21 bölümden oluşmaktadır. Serimizin ilk kitabının konu dağılımından da anlaşılacağı üzere bu çalışmalar örgütsel davranış alanında çok önemli bir boşluğu dolduracağı gibi yeni çalışmalara da kaynaklık edeceği iddiasını taşımaktadır. Ülkemizde yaşanan asrın felaketi olarak adlandırılan Kahramanmaraş merkezli on bir ili etkileyen depremlerden dolayı oldukça zor, sıkıntılı ve stresli bir süreç içerisinde kitap çalışmamızı tamamlamış bulunmaktayız. Bu depremlerden doğrudan etkilenen bölüm yazarlarımızın zor şartlarda kitabımıza katkı sağlamış olmaları takdire şayandır. Bu nedenle öncelikle bu eserin ortaya çıkabilmesi için yoğun bir emek, özveri, sabır ile katkı ve destek sağlayan birbirinden değerli, alanında uzman tüm bölüm yazarlarımıza teşekkürlerimi ve şükranlarımı sunmayı bir borç bilirim. Ayrıca kitaba sunuş yazma inceliğini göstererek bizleri onurlandıran, sahip olduğu bilgi ve tecrübelerle her zaman yolumu aydınlatan ve bana rol model olan Değerli Hocam Prof. Dr. Mustafa TAŞLIYAN’a, kitabın yayına hazırlanmasında titizlikle çalışan Özgür Yayınevi ve çalışanlarına, kitap yazım sürecinde desteğini esirgemeyen ve bugünlere gelmemi sağlayan aileme, değerli hocalarıma, arkadaşlarıma ve siz değerli okuyuculara sonsuz teşekkürlerimi ve saygılarımı sunarım.
... When people with IS over-prepare, they believe that their success is due to hard work rather than their actual abilities. In the case of initial procrastination, they usually attribute their success to luck (Sakulku & Alexander, 2001). Feenstra et al. (2020) concluded that IS develops in response to various social factors (society, organizations, relationships) that covey that the individual's ideas, knowledge, and insights are not accepted, worthwhile or valued. ...
... It tends to be present in highly successful individuals and high-achieving students (Chapman, 2015;Gottlieb et al., 2020). However, impostor feelings can appear in anyone who fails to internalize their achievements and are not limited to successful individuals (Sakulku & Alexander, 2001). It is believed that approximately 70% of the general population is affected by this syndrome at some point in their lives (Rivera et al., 2021). ...
Impostor syndrome (IS) manifests as fear of being exposed as incompetent, despite exceptional professional achievements. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of IS among physiotherapy students and to investigate whether there are significant differences according to demographic variables. Data were collected using the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), and participants were categorized into one of four groups based on the expression of IS characteristics. We found that IS occurs in the majority of physiotherapy students. Females achieve higher overall CIPS scores compared with males, but the proportion of males and females in each category of IS characteristics is similar. The expression of IS decreases with increasing age, length of clinical work experience, and year of study. Physiotherapy students with clinical work experience have fewer IS characteristics than those without clinical work experience. Study programs and clinical settings in which physiotherapy students receive practical training should pay more attention to raising awareness of IS in order to protect individuals who are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of IS.
... Concerning work, and still as examples, the impostor syndrome is associated with a loss of intrinsic motivation in one's activity accompanied by a decrease in performance and job satisfaction, or even difficulties in managing the work-life balance (e.g., Bravata et al., 2020). A part of these persistent imposter thoughts are supposed to be associated with individuals' personality traits (e.g., neuroticism; Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). ...
... We also measured participants' tendency to be emotionally unstable (to have difficulty managing their emotions, to feel easily anxious or depressed) using the neuroticism measure from the Big Five Inventory (e.g., 'In general, I am someone who: Is depressed, blue'; John et al., 1991;see Plaisant et al., 2010 for the French version). The aim was to statistically control the effect of this potential confounded variable, since this personality trait is linked to both emotion regulation and imposter syndrome (greater neuroticism is accompanied by stronger impostor syndrome, stronger use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and lower use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies; Barańczuk, 2019;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). Participants reported their answers using a 5-point Likert scale (from 1 'Disagree strongly' to 5 'Agree strongly'; α = .84, ...
PhD candidates are at particularly high risk of developing imposter thoughts. Imposter syndrome can be supposed to contribute to the high prevalence of mental health problems among PhD candidates, such as stress, burnout, depression, or intense negative emotions. In addition, emotion regulation is also considered an important factor in determining individuals' well being and adaptation to stressful situations. However, little is known about the strategies used by PhD candidates when they try to regulate negative emotions, especially by those experiencing imposter thoughts. An online questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of 241 PhD candidates. Imposter syndrome appeared to be associated with a tendency to use more maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (associated with poorer long-term mental and physical health outcomes) in the work context. A contrario, imposter thoughts did not appear to be associated with a tendency to underuse adaptive strategies (associated with greater long-term health outcomes). Taken together, the results of the present study indicate that a prevalent self-focused belief among PhD candidates, namely the belief to be an imposter, is related to the overuse of emotion regulation strategies that are known to cause poor wellbeing and mental health problems. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
... The IP relates to lower mental health, anxiety, and depressiveness and is detrimental to job satisfaction, career development, and career planning (e.g., Vergauwe et al., 2015; see Sakulku & Alexander, 2011 for an overview). Numerous studies found the IP to be unrelated from demographics such as age, gender, and vocational group (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). ...
... Attributional styles are potent predictors of depression and low mental health (Peterson et al., 1982;Weiner, 1985) and Impostors' attributional styles, although being particularly dominant in performance-related situations, might contribute to understand why the IP is related to experiences of depressiveness, anxiety, and low wellbeing (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011;Vergauwe et al., 2015). Considering the importance of attributions for the IP, our findings encourage future research that examines whether interventions addressing changes in attributional styles affect the IP. ...
The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is characterized by an external-instable-specific attributional style (i.e., Impostors perceive successful performance as due to chance). To our knowledge no study has yet tested this notion in real-life situations. Therefore, we invited 76 participants to complete computer-based numerical and verbal intelligence tasks, gave them positive feedback, irrespective of their actual performance, and assessed their attributions of the positive performance feedback. While the self-reported IP was unrelated to psychometrically measured intelligence (rs ≤ .07), those high in IP discounted their performance and attributed the cause for their performance as external-instable-specific (r = .40). The findings hold when controlling for age, gender, and actual performance. Our study extends the knowledge on the associations between the IP and causal attributions of performance. We discuss how addressing attributional styles could benefit interventions for the IP.
... These factors are, in part, responsible for amplified IP among women. Unfortunately, impostor syndrome has been linked to negative psychological, behavioral, and social outcomes, including anxiety, insomnia, depression, workaholic behaviors, attrition, and withdrawal from colleagues [7][8][9][10]. ...
Impostor Phenomenon (IP), also called impostor syndrome, involves feelings of perceived fraudulence, self-doubt, and personal incompetence that persist despite one’s education, experience, and accomplishments. This study is the first to evaluate the presence of IP among data science students and to evaluate several variables linked to IP simultaneously in a single study evaluating data science. In addition, it is the first study to evaluate the extent to which gender identification is linked to IP. We examined: (1) the degree to which IP exists in our sample; (2) how gender identification is linked to IP; (3) whether there are differences in goal orientation, domain identification, perfectionism, self-efficacy, anxiety, personal relevance, expectancy, and value for different levels of IP; and (4) the extent to which goal orientation, domain identification, perfectionism, self-efficacy, anxiety, personal relevance, expectancy, and value predict IP. We found that most students in the sample showed moderate and frequent levels of IP. Moreover, gender identification was positively related to IP for both males and females. Finally, results indicated significant differences in perfectionism, value, self-efficacy, anxiety, and avoidance goals by IP level and that perfectionism, self-efficacy, and anxiety were particularly noteworthy in predicting IP. Implications of our findings for improving IP among data science students are discussed.
... 7 This is concerning because 80% of learning in the workplace occurs informally, usually through a work mentorship relationship. 9 This means employees are learning these skills themselves, via their peers or a mentor. If these employees lack a mentor, there is a good chance they are picking up bad habits or practical drift (the slow and steady uncoupling of actions from written protocols) changes that could detrimentally affect their work or medicine and in turn the business. ...
Mentorship is recognized as one of the most important features of a modern job. Applicants seek jobs that will allow them to grow and that provide a clearly identified/accomplished mentor to help facilitate this growth. This has become more critical in recent years with mentorship playing a key role in employee retention for millennials. In fact, providing a mentor for an employed millennial can double their five-year retention rate. Seventy-one percent of Fortune 500 companies have recognized the importance of mentorship and implemented formal mentorship programs but a much small percentage of small businesses recognize or utilize the importance of such a mentorship program. For this reason, a program for the basic education of mentors and the facilitation of the launch of a mentorship program is needed. The AAAs of mentorship focuses on instructing prospective or current mentoring techniques to improve their availability to mentees, improve affirmation techniques, anchor their mentee, and instruct them in post-doctoral school scholarship. While many ways exist to improve these four areas, this presentation will focus on techniques that can have the largest and most immediate impact. Growth in these areas will provide a solid foundation and measurable improvements for mentorship programs.
... It has been postulated that about 70% of millennials have experienced impostorism at least once in their lifetime. 24 The current research aimed to assess IP in dental students, during their academic journey, particularly during progression from the preclinical to clinical training stages. Overall, in the present study, 84.1% of dental students were suffering from moderate to severe impostor phenomenon feelings. ...
Objective:
To investigate the prevalence of impostor phenomenon (IP) among undergraduate dental students and explore its relationship with gender and academic year.
Methods:
This study involved observational cross-sectional research involving undergraduate dental students (first to fifth year) at Qassim University Dental School, between February and April 2021. An electronically administered, 20-item pre-validated Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) was used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 23. Mean IP scores of both genders were compared using t-tests, one-way ANOVA and Post-Hoc tests to establish the relationship between year-wise IP scores.
Results:
The response rate was 80.59% (162 respondents). The results indicated that 8.8% of the participants had mild IP experiences, 84.1% had moderate to severe IP experiences, and 7.05% exhibited intense IP experiences. The mean IP score was highest and lowest in the third and fourth-year dental students, respectively. A statistically significant relationship was identified between year wise IP scores, while no significant difference was observed based on gender.
Conclusions:
Impostor phenomenon is prevalent in substantial frequencies amongst dental students. This may have damaging physical and mental effects with negative consequences and could subsequently affect their intellectual and professional developments. The implementation of a modified curriculum and self-development plans are some of the recommended solutions.
... In STEM, imposter syndrome is common because of the rapid technological advancement and change, which no one could ever keep up with, but sometimes researchers feel they should [70]. Studies estimated that 70% of people have suffered at least one experience of the impostor phenomenon affecting both men and women [71,72]. Nevertheless, a study on 5,000 STEM students and graduates found that women are more likely to feel they do not deserve recognition for their achievements [73]. ...
... Attribution theory has been referred as a source for this (Clance & Imes, 1978). However, it is thought that fears of fraud emerge with the effect of some family dynamics at an early age (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). ...
Impostor fenomeni ya da sahtekar fenomeni (impostor phenomenon), kişilerin somut kanıtlara ve olumlu değerlendirmelere rağmen başarılarını içselleştiremeyerek, kendilerinin entelektüel bir sahtekâr olduklarına inanmaları ve ifşa olmaktan korkmaları şeklinde ortaya çıkmaktadır. Akademik veya profesyonel anlamda yüksek başarılarına rağmen, sahtekar fenomenini deneyimleyen kadınlar, gerçekten zeki olmadıklarına ve bunun aksi şekilde düşünen herkesi kandırdıklarına inanmaktadırlar. İlk kez Clance ve Imes (1978) tarafından 150'den fazla başarılı kadınla yapılan gözlem ve çalışmalar sonucunda kavramsallaştırılmıştır. Bu deneyimi yaşayan bireylerde kaygı, endişe ve depresyon gibi psikolojik etkiler de görülmektedir. sahtekar fenomeninin kaynağının, bireylerin aile ve içinde bulundukları toplumun verdiği toplumsal cinsiyet rolleriyle ilgili mesajları içselleştirmeleri olabileceği düşünülmüştür. Yapılan çalışmalarla birlikte, bu fenomenin sebepleriyle ilgili tam bir görüş birliği sağlanamamıştır. Sahtekar fenomeni, bireylerin başarısızlık korkusu sebebiyle geri çekilmelerine ve potansiyellerini kullanamamalarına neden olabilir; dolayısıyla bireylerin kariyerlerini olumsuz yönde etkileyebilir. Araştırmalar, bu fenomeni deneyimleyen bireylerin tedavisinde, farklı kuram tekniklerinin kullanıldığı bireysel terapinin ve sahtekar fenomenini deneyimleyen bireylerden oluşan grup terapisinin oldukça etkin olduğunu göstermiştir.
... It has been suggested that the phenomenon can be distinguished by six dimensions [6,16]: the "impostor cycle"; the need to be special or the best; characteristics of superman/ superwoman; fear of failure; denial of ability and discounting praise; and feeling fear and guilt about success. The instrument most widely used when identifying the impostor phenomenon is the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) [6]. ...
People who experience the impostor phenomenon have intense thoughts of fraudulence regarding their intellect or professional activities. This perception of illegitimacy leads sufferers to believe that success in their lives is attributable to some form of error. Despite the phenomenon having been thoroughly researched in a plethora of professional and educational environments, there remains a relative lack of insight into the impostor phenomenon amongst medical students. This research aimed to better understand the relationship between medical students and the impostor phenomenon, and subsequently to investigate whether their coexistence is precipitated and perpetuated by the educational environment. A cross-sectional study of medical students was conducted using a pragmatist approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative data, via a questionnaire, focus groups and interviews. The main quantitative measure used was the validated Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), where higher scores indicate more marked impostor experiences. A total of 191 questionnaire responses were received, and 19 students attended a focus group or interview. The average CIPS score for the cohort was 65.81 ± 13.72, indicating that the average student had “frequent” impostor experiences. Of note, 65.4% of students were classed as having “clinically significant” impostor experiences and females scored 9.15 points higher than males on average ( p < 0.0001). Examination rankings were frequently cited as a major contributing factor to students’ impostor feelings, and data revealed an increase of 1.12 points per decile that a student drops down the rankings ( p < 0.05). Students’ quotes were used extensively to underpin the quantitative data presented and offer an authentic insight into their experiences. This study provides new insights and contributes to our understanding of the impostor phenomenon amongst medical students, and eight recommendations for practice are presented, which are intended to provide medical schools with opportunities for pedagogical innovation.
... By its very definition, those experiencing IP are successful based on external measures such as achieving high grades, completing challenging projects, and exhibiting high task performance (Clance, 1985). However, Sakulku and Alexander's (Sakulku & Alexander, 2011) IP cycle (Clance, 1985) shows that accomplishments and successes can feed into the cycle of self-doubt and feelings of fraudulence as a feedback loop. Those who are outwardly successful, yet experience IP, could show signs such as anxiety, depression, and increased self-doubt following any success. ...
Impostor phenomenon (IP) is an experience of psychological discomfort where some high-achieving people disbelieve their success. Those experiencing IP feel undeserving and fear being discovered as a fraud in one’s area of expertise. This study examined how early career researchers or ECRs of Hispanic/Latino origin in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields described ethnicity-based experiences of IP. The research question examined how Hispanic/Latino ECRs (current PhD students and postdoctoral trainees) in STEM describe ethnicity-based experiences of IP during doctoral or postdoctoral training. Twenty-nine US-based ECRs were sequentially surveyed and interviewed. Participants were recruited purposefully and by snowball sampling through professional networks and social media. Descriptive statistics from surveys indicated that participants experienced moderate to intense IP at the time of the study with a mean score of 73.65/100 indicating high IP. Interviews with the same participants were coded and thematically displayed using constant comparison. The following themes were constructed: 1) family background and first-generation status, 2) disparity in observable traits and ethnic identity, 3) communicating in English, 4) enhance diversity, and, 5) underrepresentation and isolation. IP in connection with racial, ethnic, and other identities is poorly understood; culturally-informed understanding requires more research.
... (Myra, Female, Associate Professor, Social Sciences) Impostor syndrome has been described as 'a psychological experience of believing that one's accomplishments came about not through genuine ability, but as a result of having been lucky, having worked harder than others, or having manipulated other people's impressions' (Langford & Clance, 1993). From a perceived lack of self-worth and selfconfidence, negative psychological states (particularly stress and anxiety) become constant companions and characterize academic development (Cowman & Ferrari, 2002;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). The pervasiveness of the impostor syndrome, in the pursuit of professional mastery in research universities, is experienced across genders, academic disciplines, and professional ranks. ...
This investigation explores how the academic development influences the emotions and psychological states of university professors, particularly during two ceremonies of passage (graduate school and the tenure process). Thirty-two narrative interviews were conducted with tenure-track and tenured faculty members from the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields. The research site was a research university in the western United States. Findings suggest symbolic aspects internalized during graduate school enhanced the normalization of social isolation, impostor syndrome, and negative emotions as common characteristics of the academic profession across disciplines. Recommendations for academic developers are addressed.
... It is for this reason that we suggest to take into account an often overlooked factor known in psychology as the "impostor phenomenon" (IP), which tends to characterise the experience of female academics (Jaremka 2020). The studies on the IP (often incorrectly reported as a "syndrome") date back to 1978, when two American female psychologists portrayed for the first time the IP that affected "high achieving women" (Clance and Imes 1978;Sakulku and Alexander 2011). Since then, research has grown, focussing in particular on higher education institutions: Competitive environments where success is based on excellence and output (Hutchins 2015;Parkman 2016;Vaughn et al. 2020). ...
This article adds a new case-study to the existing empirical analyses of gender differences in academic journals. The record of South European Society and Politics confirms the established pattern of a gender gap in published output, with its source at the submissions stage. It also reveals gendered preferences with regard to authorship styles, highlighting a pattern of greater individualism and homophily for men and a more collaborative picture for female scholars; in particular, we found that co-authoring increases women’s publication footprint. Moving on to the journal’s gatekeepers, we also discovered gender imbalance. An investigation of rejection rates finds that the predominantly female editorial team made gender-neutral choices during the initial editorial review of submissions, but selected overwhelmingly male referees. While women are less successful than men in the blind peer review process, this is overshadowed by the difference in submission rates. Potential explanations for the latter were considered, including lesser access to academic networks as well as the “impostor phenomenon”, which afflicts women more than men. The article concludes that addressing the journal publishing gender gap requires broader changes in academic life.
... De plus, au-delà de cette définition clinique, il est possible de repérer ce syndrome à partir de deux stratégies adoptées par les individus qui en souffrent. Ces deux stratégies sont désormais identifiées par « le cycle de l'imposteur » (Clance, 1985;Sakulku, 2011) qui montrent que, face à une tâche ou une activité à réaliser, l'individu anxieux peut réagir de deux manières différentes. La première est l'underdoing, c'est-à-dire la procrastination, qui fait en sorte qu'en cas de réussite, la personne en question se dira qu'elle n'a eu aucun mérite mais seulement de la chance, ou, qu'en cas d'échec, elle pensera que son échec est normal et mérité au vu du peu d'efforts fournis. ...
https://www.recherchespedagogiesdifferentes.net/textes-des-communications.html
... As the primary way of doing so, I propose that those with workplace impostor thoughts adopt an otherfocused orientation, which captures the extent to which one attends to, is interested in, and focuses on others (De Dreu & Nauta, 2009;Grant & Wrzesniewski, 2010;Meglino & Korsgaard, 2004;Scholl, Sassenberg, Scheepers, Ellemers, & de Wit, 2017). Adopting an other-focused orientation restores one's self-esteem because it provides a path for achieving success in a domain other than competence-that is, the interpersonal domain (Pickett, Gardner, & Knowles, 2004)-which reflects the only other domain beyond competence in which those with workplace impostor thoughts likely invest their selfesteem (Kolligan & Sternberg, 1991;Langford & Clance, 1993;Neureiter & Traut-Mattausch, 2016b;Sakulku & Alexander, 2011). Indeed, in a seminal investigation of the phenomenon, Kolligan and Sternberg (1991: 310) noted that, while those high in such thoughts principally stake their self-worth on successes in competence-based "evaluative" situations, they also seem to invest their self-worth in successes in "social situations." ...
Prevailing wisdom paints the impostor phenomenon as detrimental. In this work, I seek to rebalance the existing conversation around this phenomenon by highlighting that it may also have interpersonal benefits. To identify these benefits, I revisit seminal theorizing to advance the construct of workplace impostor thoughts, which I define as the belief that others overestimate one’s competence at work. Incorporating theory on contingencies of self-worth, I present an integrative model that outlines why such thoughts may be positively associated with other-perceived interpersonal effectiveness and why they may not be. I test my theory across four studies (N=3603) that feature survey, video, and pre-registered experimental data. I find that employees who more frequently have such thoughts are evaluated as more interpersonally effective because they adopt a more other-focused orientation. I do not find that this interpersonal benefit comes at the expense of competence-related outcomes (i.e., performance, selection)—a point I revisit in my future directions. When examining my theorized competing pathway, I find that whereas workplace impostor thoughts do somewhat encourage those who have them to self-handicap—consistent with prevailing wisdom—such thoughts do not operate through self-handicapping to harm other-perceived interpersonal effectiveness. I conclude by situating my findings in light of prior work.
... It was first described in a population of high-achieving women by Clance and Imes in 1978. 1 Since then, this phenomenon has been increasingly recognized, with an estimated 70% of the general population having experienced IS at some point. 2 Importantly, IS is common within the medical profession. It is known to impact all levels of medical training, beginning with medical students 3 and continuing during stages of transition 4 and even in senior faculty. ...
Introduction:
Imposter syndrome (IS) is a feeling of being an intellectual fraud and is common among health professionals, particularly those underrepresented in medicine. IS is accompanied by burnout, self-doubt, and beliefs of decreased success. This workshop aims to discuss the impact of IS and develop strategies to confront IS at the individual, peer, and institutional levels.
Methods:
During the 75-minute interactive workshop, participants listened to didactics and engaged in individual reflection, small-group case discussion, and large-group instruction. Workshop participants and facilitators included medical students, residents, fellows, faculty, staff, and program leadership. Anonymous postworkshop evaluations exploring participants' satisfaction and intentions to change their behavior were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyze participants' intentions to change their behavior.
Results:
The workshop was presented at three local academic conferences and accepted at one national conference. Data were collected from 92 participants. Ninety-two percent of participants felt the workshop met its objectives, and 90% felt the workshop was a valuable use of their time. Furthermore, 90% of participants stated they would apply information learned at the workshop in the future. The participants indicated an intent to change behavior on individual, peer, and institutional levels, while recognizing that barriers exist at all those levels.
Discussion:
This workshop proved to be an effective means to discuss strategies on how to address IS at the individual, peer, and institutional levels. The materials can be adapted for relevance to various audiences.
... Furthermore, professional leaders and social figures, Thai or not, report feeling like criticised imposters upon achieving degrees of 125 วารสารการส่ � อสารมวลชน คณะการสื่่ � อสื่ารมวลชน มหาวิ ทยาลั ยเชี ยงใหม่ ปีี ที � 9 ฉบัั บัที � 1 มกราคม -มิ ถุุ นายน 2564 success (Clance & Imes, 1978). Such feelings of being 'An Imposter' are, however, even further intensified among powerful groups, when they do not receive success or are held against those most successful within them, lowering esteem and self -actualisation, which can cause conflict in acts of workplace communication, especially when enacted globally (Sakulku, 2011;Clance & Imes, 1978). This, then, is compounded by krengjai and reminds us that, intentionally or not, self -esteem, identity and even credentialism affect Thai research status. ...
Thai higher education (Thai HE) is changing. Thailand 4.0, a socioeconomic and educational development policy of the Thai Government, wants universities to ‘reinvent’ themselves into the
world’s top - 100 and so draw closer to international ideas of quality assurance, research, impact and teaching. This has, for example, led to a radical proposed revolution in mid - 2020 for Thailand’s academic ranking system, one that is both unexpected and unprepared for. Therefore, using a literature review, alongside policy analysis, we describe publicly available information on Thai academic systems and question the forthcoming proposed changes against the pre-existing systems for academic progression. Through this, we debate the academic expectations and traditions in Thai HE. These are unique, a reflection of a country that prides itself as never
having been colonised, yet favouring the borrowing, rejecting and reinterpretation of other academic systems. We propose consideration ofthe cross - cultural communication implications for Thai HE is needed, as it seeks to move towards an international setting. Then, we conclude that critical restructuring of academic ranks would create a more progressive educational policy, in line with international ideas of academia. Meanwhile, it raises further implications for cross - cultural collaboration, as well as communication, which has the potential for a lucrative knowledge exchange between institutes of learning in western
higher education and Thailand. Published in the Journal of Mass Communication (THAIJO) Vol 9 Issue 1 (2021), made available here via CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Available at: https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/masscomm/article/view/246159. //
Imposter Phenomenon (IP) involves experiencing persistent feelings of perceived insufficiency and fraudulence, despite contrary evidence of objective success or accomplishment. The aim of this research was to explore factors which may trigger or maintain feelings of imposterism in postgraduate students from minoritised racial backgrounds, and investigate students’ perspectives of what Higher Education (HE) institutions could do to help prevent or reduce IP. All postgraduate, students from a large UK university who self-identified as being from a minoritised racial background and felt they had experience of IP were invited to take part in an online survey. Demographic information was collected, and participants were asked open-ended qualitative questions about their feelings and experiences of IP. In total 71 students completed the survey. Four main themes were developed using thematic analysis: Hidden away; Problematic awareness; Hell is other people; Our complicated lives. We report these themes in turn, exploring the nuanced and contextual qualities that frame our participants’ experiences of IP. Imposterism is seen to present a range of challenges for students who identify as members of minoritised racial groups, and our findings emphasise the relatedness between representation, belonging, and feelings of imposterism. We suggest that imposterism should be investigated as a multi-layered phenomenon that is potentially more likely to impact students from minoritised backgrounds who lack representation in UK HE settings. We conclude by offering a series of recommendations for HE institutions, which could start to address some of these issues.
Quality patient care and advancements in medical education, investigation, and innovation require effective teamwork. High-functioning teams navigate stressful environments, learning openly from failures and leveraging successes to fuel future initiatives. The authors review foundational concepts for implementing and sustaining successful teams, including emotional intelligence, trust, inclusivity, clear communication, and accountability. Focus is given to real-world examples and actionable, practical solutions.
Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo compreender qual a relação entre o Fenômeno do Impostor e as estratégias de coping com o perfil dos acadêmicos da pós-graduação em negócios. Trata-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa e descritiva, com a coleta de dados realizada mediante um questionário, que possibilitou obter uma amostra de 533 indivíduos, sendo 146 professores e 387 alunos. Foram adotadas a estatística descritiva e a Análise de Variância (ANOVA). Os resultados demonstram que mulheres sofrem mais com o fenômeno do impostor, buscando o “Suporte Social”. Os homens utilizam mais o “Controle”. Ademais, os de pele mais escura são os que mais sofrem com o fenômeno com estratégias negativas, como “Isolamento”. Os religiosos adotam estratégias de coping positivas e têm menos dificuldade ao enfrentar o fenômeno do impostor. A estratégia de coping mais utilizada por aqueles que praticam exercícios físicos é o “Controle”. Os que não praticam exercícios sofrem mais com o fenômeno do impostor e utilizam a estratégia de “Isolamento” para lidar com as pressões. As contribuições desta pesquisa se devem ao fato de que, especialmente para a área acadêmica, busca-se desenvolver um modelo que tem o intuito de predizer as estratégias para lidar com o fenômeno do impostor.
Gender diversity has been approached in studies of Software Engineering in recent years, aiming at the integration of different genders in organizations and communities. It has been observed by several authors that gender diversity is still not present in a significant way in development teams, despite its positive effect on team productivity and company profitability. This Master's thesis aims to investigate how gender diversity in software development teams of a keystone affects the relationships of actors in a proprietary software ecosystem (SECO). A systematic mapping study (SMS) on diversity in SECO, a multivocal literature review on gender diversity in software development teams, and a field study on gender diversity in proprietary SECO were conducted. As a result, gender barriers to proprietary software ecosystems were identified and strategies to deal with the barriers. An actionable framework was created to foster gender diversity in proprietary SECO, detailing the motivations for women to enter the environment, contextual characteristics, gender barriers, strategies to deal with barriers, and coping mechanisms. In the field study, a new gender barrier was identified, in addition to the barriers already mapped in the literature: client resistance.
Um die eigenen Stärken und Schwächen zu erkennen, muss jeder ein paar Stolpersteine vermeiden: von der Selbstwahrnehmung bis hin zur Interaktion mit anderen. Es geht ebenso um Narzissmus und übermäßiges Selbstvertrauen wie um eine Unterschätzung der eigenen Fähigkeiten und der eigenen Grenzen. Hält man sich für zu eindeutig oder nimmt sich zu wichtig? Werkzeuge werden an die Hand gegeben, um die eigenen Stärken und Schwächen Schritt für Schritt für den derzeitigen wie für einen zukünftigen Job zu analysieren.
Two Schmidt Science Fellows describe their academic and career failures as they pursued their PhDs. Suggestions are included for how advisors, departments, and institutions can support students to open up about failure, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds.
Narcissism is a part of the cultural heritage. It reaches many areas of social life. As a cultural phenomenon, it reaches more profound and broader than psychological analyses would indicate. It has always been present in the biographies of people significant for the development of culture and art. The thesis in the text states that cultural achievements without narcissism would be much more modest than we can observe today. The conducted argument indicates the positive aspects of narcissism in the field of artistic culture. Praise of narcissism concerns agency in culture and art. Trying to determine the place of narcissism in art culture, I favor forgoing the one-sidedly negative perception of the phenomenon of narcissism. Narcissism here is one of the motivating factors
This chapter sets out the rationale for attending to gender and belonging within the context of early career academia. It views the academy from an international perspective, drawing on literature which shows how women continue to be marginalised within academic institutions, across higher education sectors.
“Perceived Fraudulence” (or “Impostor Syndrome”) is a potentially alarming psychological phenomenon for students. The purpose of the research team on the “Perceived Fraudulence” phenomenon in high school students in Da Nang City is to determine the prevalence of this phenomenon; its relationship with factors of learning environment, age, gender, and academic achievement; its structure, thereby, improving students’ awareness of this phenomenon; and to propose some educational measures to minimize the manifestation of this phenomenon in students
The Impostor Phenomenon describes people characterized by a non-self-serving attributional bias towards success. In this experimental between-subjects design, we conducted a bogus intelligence test in which each subject was assigned to a positive or negative feedback condition. Our sample consisted of N=170 individuals (51% female). The results showed that the impostor expression moderates the influence of feedback on locus of causality and stability attribution. ‘Impos- tors’ show an external-instable attributional style regarding success and an internal-stable attributional style regarding failure. Therefore, the relationship between the impostor expression and its characteristic attribution patterns could be experimentally validated for the first time. In addition, we investigated whether the IP is linked to the performance-related construct mindset. We found a positive correlation between the IP and fixed mindset. Possible causes for these findings are discussed.
Psychology is a popular subject to study, with thousands entering graduate school each year, but unlike med or pre-law, there is limited information available to help students learn about the field, how to successfully apply, and how to thrive while completing doctoral work. The Portable Mentor is a useful, must-have resource for all students interested in psychology. This third edition is updated and expanded, designed to address students' and trainees' need for open dialogue and mentorship. Throughout, it covers some of the common challenges graduates face and features discussions about how to celebrate your identity and find a rewarding, worthwhile career path. It comprises thirty chapters written by more than seventy of the field's top experts, successfully filling a void in professional development advice.
Psychology is a popular subject to study, with thousands entering graduate school each year, but unlike med or pre-law, there is limited information available to help students learn about the field, how to successfully apply, and how to thrive while completing doctoral work. The Portable Mentor is a useful, must-have resource for all students interested in psychology. This third edition is updated and expanded, designed to address students' and trainees' need for open dialogue and mentorship. Throughout, it covers some of the common challenges graduates face and features discussions about how to celebrate your identity and find a rewarding, worthwhile career path. It comprises thirty chapters written by more than seventy of the field's top experts, successfully filling a void in professional development advice.
Niniejszy artykuł jest sprawozdaniem z międzynarodowej konferencji naukowej WIAD21, która odbyła się 27.02.2021, z okazji obchodów Światowego Dnia Architektury Informacji. Konferencja organizowana była w Instytut Badań Informacji i Komunikacji, na Uniwersytecie Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu. W sumie, w Konferencji udział wzięło 250 osób, w tym 45 prelegentów, zarówno ze świata nauki jak i biznesu.
Dalam latar belakang keluarga terdapat pola asuh yang dikaitkan sebagai faktor munculnya Impostor Syndrome yaitu authoritarian parenting dimana orang tua memiliki proteksi yang berlebihan kepada anak dan menerapkan aturan serta memiliki standar khusus yang harus dipenuhi oleh anak. Pada kasus mahasiswa salah jurusan sering ditemukan bahwa proses untuk pengambilan jurusan ditentukan oleh orang tua. Mereka hanya bisa mengikuti karena ini bentuk kepatuhan, sehingga terkadang mereka merasa jika apa yang mereka jalani ini hanyalah sebuah keterpaksaan. Selama menjalani perkuliahan mereka merasa terpaksa, akan tetapi nilai akademis mereka tidak terganggu bahkan cenderung memiliki nilai-nilai yang baik dan berprestasi.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat hubungan antara authoritarian parenting dengan Impostor Syndrome pada mahasiwa salah jurusan. Subjek penelitian berjumlah 100 orang dengan menggunakan teknik purposive sampling. Metode analisa data menggunakan metode uji korelasi statistik yaitu korelasi product moment.Berdasarkan analisis data ditemukan bahwa terdapat hubungan yang arahnya positif antara authoritarian parenting dengan Impostor Syndrome pada mahasiswa salah jurusan. Hal ini terlihat dari perolehan angka koefisien korelasinya yang sebesar 0,230 dengan tingkat signifikansi 0,05.
The word impostor syndrome was first described by Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes as a persistent psychological experience of perceived intellectual and professional fraudulence, after observing many high-achieving women who tended to believe they were not competent. Impostor syndrome or impostor phenomenon is when people experience being an impostor and the thoughts and feelings elicited by such experience. It was thought to occur more frequently in women than in men, but gender tends to be insignificant with regard to the severity of impostor syndrome. Women found in the fields of pure and applied science, engineering, animal and human health, and technology, fields perceived as more of male dominated, often experience impostor syndrome. This chapter examines what impostor syndrome is or is not, causation factors, types, its characteristics, and how female scientists harness the feeling of being an impostor in order to restore a positive feeling. Thus, a greater understanding of what impostor syndrome is and its characteristics may lead to effective interventions that will reduce its consequences and some psychological distress associated with it, increase job satisfaction, and enhance performance in workplaces.
We develop a model of fragile self-esteem — self-esteem that is vulnerable to objectively unjustified swings — and study its implications for choices that depend on, or are aimed at enhancing or protecting, one's self-view. In our framework, a person's self-esteem is determined by sampling his memories of ego-relevant outcomes in a fashion that in turn depends on how he feels about himself, potentially creating multiple fragile “self-esteem personal equilibria. ” Self-esteem is especially likely to be fragile, as well as unrealistic in either the positive or the negative direction, if being successful is important to the agent. A person with a low self-view might exert less effort when success is more important. An individual with a high self-view, in contrast, might distort his choices to prevent a collapse in self-esteem, with the distortion being greater if his true ability is lower. We discuss the implications of our results for mental well-being, education, job search, workaholism, and aggression.
Background: People suffering from imposter syndrome despite being competent consider themselves less skillful and incapable. Such individuals are also more prone to regret their choice of career with consequent early drop out, experience burnout, more prone to medical errors, absenteeism and low job satisfaction. The current study aims to determine the difference in the characteristics of imposter syndrome in dental students of preclinical and clinical phase and its gender predisposition. Objectives: 1. To find out the frequency and characteristics of imposter syndrome among dental students. 2. To evaluate the differences in the characteristics of imposter syndrome among dental students of preclinical and clinical year. 3. To determine gender predisposition of imposter syndrome among dental students. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted on 138 dental students of CMH Lahore Medical and Dental College. A validated questionnaire (Clance IP Scale) containing 20 items with 5-point Likert scale was used to collect data by convenient sampling technique. The characteristics of IP were determined by adding the scores of all items. Descriptive statistics were done, chi-square applied, p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: One hundred and thirty-eight students filled the IP Scale. The frequency of imposter syndrome is found to be 52.1% among Dental Students. Majority (72) of the dental students have frequent to intense imposter feelings. There is non-significant difference in the IP characteristics of male and female students. No significant difference in the characteristics of imposter syndrome is found between dental students of preclinical and clinical year. Conclusions: There frequency of imposter syndrome is high among Dental students. Non-significant difference in the IP characteristics is found between male and female students as well as students of preclinical and clinical year.
Memasuki era revolusi industri 4.0 yang telah dijalani dengan berbagai disrupsinya, membawa gagasan lebih lanjut sebagaimana diajukan oleh Jepang untuk menjadikan masyarakat sebagai pusat dari teknologi yang berkembang pesat. Diskursus yang dibahas kemudian mencakup bagaimana berbagai teknologi tersebut membawa kebermanfaatan dan sesuai dengan kebutuhan masyarakat.
Gagasan yang diajukan oleh Jepang tersebut disebut sebagai gambaran perkembangan Society 5.0 yang merupakan kelanjutan dari hunting society (Society 1.0), agricultural society (Society 2.0), industrial society (Society 3.0), dan information society (Society 4.0). Society 5.0 digambarkan sebagai masyarakat yang menjadikan manusia sebagai pusat perkembangan teknologinya. Dengan demikian, perkembangan teknologi informasi tidak hanya semata ditujukan untuk akselerasi pembangunan ekonomi semata, melainkan juga untuk dapat mengatasi berbagai permasalahan sosial yang ada.
Gagasan ini kemudian mengemuka dan membawa diskusi lebih lanjut bagaimana proyeksi Society 5.0 di Indonesia. Secara khusus, sebagai mahasiswa Psikologi, muncul pertanyaan bagaimana menempatkan Psikologi sebagai kontributor penting dalam menyambut society 5.0 di Indonesia. Peran Psikologi yang luas diharapkan dapat menyentuh berbagai lapisan sistem di masyarakat mulai dari keluarga, organisasi hingga komunitas. Hal tersebut mendorong Fakultas Psikologi Universitas Diponegoro untuk menyelenggarakan sebuah konferensi ilmiah untuk mahasiswa Psikologi yaitu Konferensi Mahasiswa Psikologi Indonesia (KMPI) yang telah diselenggarakan secara daring pada 29 Agustus 2020 lalu.
Tema Revitalisasi Peran Psikologi dalam Keluarga, Organisasi, dan Komunitas: Tantangan dalam Menyambut Society 5.0 ini mendapat respons yang sangat baik dari mahasiswa Psikologi di berbagai penjuru Tanah Air dengan diterimanya puluhan artikel yang membahas mengenai peran psikologi dalam menyambut Society 5.0 dan isu-isu lain yang turut mengiringinya. Artikel tersebut disatukan dalam sebuah prosiding yang sedang pembaca nikmati sekarang. Akhirnya, tim editor mengucapkan terima kasih kepada peserta sekaligus kontributor artikel dalam prosiding ini. Semoga sumbangsih ilmu tersebut mengalir tiada henti, dan tergandakan tiada batas. Psikologi Prioritas!
Because stereotyping affects individual assessments of ability and because of socializing experiences in the law, we argue that women and judges of color, while well‐credentialed, feel pressure to work harder than their white male peers to demonstrate their competence. Using an original dataset of published appellate court opinions from 2008–2016, we find that majority opinions authored by female and non‐white judges go farther to explain and justify their rulings, when compared to opinions written by white male peers. In comparison to other judges, opinions by white men are about 6% shorter, with 11% fewer citations, and 17% fewer extensively discussed citations. Our findings suggest that norms about crafting judicial opinions are gendered and racialized in ways that create higher workloads for women and judges of color.
Este capítulo tiene el objetivo de brindar algunas herramientas y reflexiones en torno al análisis de las espiritualidades contemporáneas. Parte importante de este escrito se basa en el camino construido en el abordaje de colectivos de mujeres y sus bases espirituales, así como el acompañamiento de investigaciones asociadas al análisis de prácticas, grupos y creencias religiosas en México.
Perfectionism was assessed using the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, along with a measure of the Big Five factor model, in order to describe perfectionism within the set of constructs provided by the Big Five factor model. Self-oriented perfectionism was strongly associated with conscientiousness, and with the achievement striving subscale in particular. Self-oriented perfectionism was also modestly associated with facets of neuroticism and agreeableness. Other-oriented perfectionism was inversely associated with agreeableness. Socially-prescribed perfectionism was associated only with the depression subscale of the neuroticism factor. Self-oriented perfectionism appeared predominately adaptive, while other-oriented and socially-prescribed perfectionism appeared predominately maladaptive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
J. Millham and L. I. Jacobson's (1978) 2-factor model of socially desirable responding based on denial and attribution components is reviewed and disputed. A 2nd model distinguishing self-deception and impression management components is reviewed and shown to be related to early factor-analytic work on desirability scales. Two studies, with 511 undergraduates, were conducted to test the model. A factor analysis of commonly used desirability scales (e.g., Lie scale of the MMPI, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale) revealed that the 2 major factors were best interpreted as Self-Deception and Impression Management. A 2nd study employed confirmatory factor analysis to show that the attribution/denial model does not fit the data as well as the self-deception/impression management model. A 3rd study, with 100 Ss, compared scores on desirability scales under anonymous and public conditions. Results show that those scales that had loaded highest on the Impression Management factor showed the greatest mean increase from anonymous to public conditions. It is recommended that impression management, but not self-deception, be controlled in self-reports of personality. (54 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This study investigated the imposter phenomenon (IP) in relation to common achievement dispositions and the Five Factor Model (FFM). A total of 129 college students were administered measures of achievement including the Harvey Imposter Phenomenon, Cooperation, Debilitating Anxiety, Hypercompetitive Attitude, Personal Development Competition, and Self-handicapping scales, in addition to the NEO-PI-R. IP scores were related to all achievement constructs, but were best predicted by Fear of Failure (+) and Self-handicapping (+). Consistent with previous findings [Chae, J. H., Piedmont R., Estadt, B., & Wicks, R. (1995). Personal evaluation of Clance’s impostor phenomenon scale in a Korean sample. Journal of Personality Assessment, 65(3), 468–485.] the IP was related to Neuroticism (+), Extraversion (−), and Conscientiousness (−). However, Neuroticism accounted for the vast majority of variance in the FFM predicting IP scores. In addition, a pattern of correlations was found for the IP and facet scales of the NEO-PI-R that is highly similar to those reported by Chae et al. Taken together, these findings expand our understanding of the IP in achievement and confirm earlier findings for the FFM.
In many walks of life-and business is no exception-there are high achievers who believe that they are complete fakes. To the outside observer, these individuals appear to be remarkably accomplished; often they are extremely successful leaders with staggering lists of achievements. These neurotic impostors--as psychologists call them--are not guilty of false humility. The sense of being a fraud is the flip side of giftedness and causes a great many talented, hardworking, and capable leaders to believe that they don't deserve their success. "Bluffing" their way through life (as they see it), they are haunted by the constant fear of exposure. With every success, they think, "I was lucky this time, fooling everyone, but will my luck hold? When will people discover that I'm not up to the job?" In his career as a management professor, consultant, leadership coach, and psychoanalyst, Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries has found neurotic impostors at all levels of organizations. In this article, he explores the subject of neurotic imposture and outlines its classic symptoms: fear of failure, fear of success, perfectionism, procrastination, and workaholism. He then describes how perfectionist overachievers can damage their careers, their colleagues' morale, and the bottom line by allowing anxiety to trigger self-handicapping behavior and cripple the very organizations they're trying so hard to please. Finally, Kets de Vries offers advice on how to limit the incidence of neurotic imposture and mitigate its damage through discreet vigilance, appropriate intervention, and constructive support.
The purpose of this study was both to determine if the Impostor Phenomenon (IP) can be reliably and validly assessed in a Korean context and if so, evaluate the construct within the context of Jungian typology and the 5-factor model of personality. A sample of 654 Korean men and women were selected from 4 major Korean cities and administered the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS; Clance & Imes, 1978) along with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI, Form G; Myers & McCaulley, 1985) and NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992). Results indicated that the CIPS was very reliable, and the pattern of correlates suggested impostors to be introverted types on the MBTI. Results with the NEO-PI-R showed impostors to be very high on neuroticism and low on conscientiousness. This pattern of correlates is similar to other performance-inhibiting constructs such as fear of success and fear of failure. It was argued that IP be construed more as a motivational style than as a distinct clinical syndrome. The IP seems to be less pervasive in Korea than America and these cross-cultural implications were discussed.
: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and correlation of three major psychological constructs in practicing physician assistants (PAs) in the continental United States. Through voluntary participant completion of a comprehensive online survey, the Imposter Phenomenon (IP), depression, and anxiety were analyzed using the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) and the Depression Module and Anxiety Module of the Primary Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD). Demographic information, including age, gender, graduation date, and total number of years in practice, was also gathered. The study investigated a four-part hypothesis. First, the presence of IP would mimic earlier research showing that IP exists in approximately one-third of professionals, regardless of profession. Second, IP scores would decrease as the number of years in practice increased. Third, no gender difference would exist in the incidence of IP among PAs. Four, clinically expressed levels of both depression and anxiety would be statistically correlated with high IP scores. Results supported each of the study hypotheses with the exception that anxiety was not shown to be significantly associated with IP.
: Graduate schools and medical residency programs have identified a subgroup of individuals who tend to doubt their competency to excel in their chosen career paths. The imposter phenomenon (IP) implies the strong feeling of "intellectual phoniness" that is experienced among some "high-achieving" individuals. These individuals live in fear of "being found out," and forced to abandon their professions. Results from a pilot study identified a high percentage of students to have feelings of imposture. Our study suggests IP may be a transient phenomenon. Further national studies involving the physician assistant profession are needed.
This study empirically tested prior theoretical speculations and clinical observations concerning the impostor phenomenon. The cognitive and affective experiences of “impostors” and nonimpostors were assessed prior to and following feedback on an important evaluative event. As hypothesized, impostors expected to perform less well and were more anxious than were nonimpostors prior to a midterm exam but did not differ in exam performance. Furthermore, impostors felt affectively worse and suffered a greater loss in state self-esteem than did nonimpostors after subjective failure on the exam, but they did not differ from nonimpostors after subjective success. Analyses performed holding initial trait self-esteem scores constant further revealed that initial self-esteem could account for many of the differences between impostors and nonimpostors. However, the crucial differences between these two groups in postfailure affect and state self-esteem could not be accounted for by the fact that impostors were initia...
In 1978, Clance and Imes developed the term Imposter Phenomenon (IP) to designate an internal experience of intellectual phoniness that seemed to be particularly prevalent among a select sample of high achieving women. They worked with 150 highly successful women from a wide range of professional fields such as law, nursing, medicine, social work, and university teaching, plus students at graduate and undergraduate levels. Clance and Imes had worked with their subjects in clinical settings such as individual psychotherapy or theme-centered inter-actional groups or small discussion-oriented college classes. These subjects had obtained earned degrees, high scores on standardized tests, or professional recognition from colleagues or organizations, yet they did not experience an internal sense of success. They were afraid they were "impostors" who did not belong "here with all these bright, competent people." They were very frightened that others would discover that they were not as competent as they appeared to be, and dreaded such discovery. They attributed their success to hard work, luck, knowing the right people, being in the right place at the right time, or to their interpersonal assets such as charm and the ability to relate well, rather than to ability or competence. For instance, students often said the admissions committee had made an error. One student expressed her feelings by saying, "I walk around thinking I'm the Michigan mistake." A highly respected professional woman explained, "I just got my job as a fluke. They needed someone at mid-year and so very few qualified applicants applied." The reality was that the students who were feeling like impostors were among the highest ranked students and the search committee for the woman professional had selected her out of a pool of many highly qualified candidates. These subjects were ingenious at negating objective external evidence that indicated they were indeed very bright. They had tremendous difficulty in accepting compliments or positive feedback. If they received an excellent quarterly evaluation they might think, "This agency or institution does not have very high standards if they think I'm good." Yet, if they received any negative feedback they belied it and tended to remember it as evidence of their deficits.
Despite their actual achievements, some successful people believe their abilities have been overestimated and that they will eventually be unmasked as impostors. This paper focuses on the "impostor phenomenon" as a useful concept guiding clinical research and practice. Factors which foster and hinder the development and maintenance of impostor feelings are discussed, along with strategies for psychotherapeutic intervention.
This article provides a methodology for mapping an individual's system of social relationships. Three examples of network maps which vary in complexity have been selected to represent the most common issues discussed by over 90 African American professional women during an eight year period. Excerpts from their explanations of these "maps" are used to identify issues pertinent to the social structure and adult development issues of this group. Implications for clinical practitioners working with African American women of professional status are discussed.
The impostor phenomenon is an intense feeling of intellectual inauthenticity experienced by many high-achieving individuals (Clance, 1985). The present study investigated the relationships between the impostor phenomenon and (a) family achievement orientation and (b) achievement-related behaviors. Subjects were 127 undergraduates (75 female, 52 males). Subjects reported high school grade point average (GPA) and number of hours spent on academic endeavors. They then completed the Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1986) and Clance′s IP Scale (1985). As predicted, greater family achievement orientation was associated with higher levels of the impostor phenomenon. Higher levels of the impostor phenomenon were associated with higher GPA and more time spent on academic endeavors for females, but not for males. Future research on family achievement orientation and possible gender differences associated with this phenomenon is indicated.
Two studies examined impostor fears, self-handicapping and self-presentational concerns. In Study 1 (113 women, 52 men), impostor fears were significantly related to social desirability (low self-deception over impression management), perfectionistic cognitions, and non-display of imperfection to others. In Study 2, 72 women were exposed either to face-saving failure (failure that was did not indicate low ability, thereby assuaging self-presentational concerns), humiliating failure (where no mitigating excuse for poor performance was available), or success. Following humiliating failure, participants high compared to low in impostor fears claimed more handicaps. However, when provided with a face-saving excuse, these participant groups did not differ in their propensity to claim handicaps. Together, these studies suggest that impostor fears are associated with self-presentational concerns in situations that involve threat to self-worth. However the link is with claimed, not with behavioural self-handicapping.
Impostors are outwardly successful individuals who experience secret intense feelings of fraudulence in achievement situations. Elements of perfectionism are evident in a tendency on the part of impostors to maintain high standards for personal evaluation while being critical of their inability to realise these standards. This study utilised a 2 (impostor status: high, low)×2 (task type: high vs. low frequency of mistakes) between-subjects factorial design to investigate the connection between impostor fears and perfectionistic concern over mistakes. Sixty undergraduate students completed either a high or low frequency of mistake Stroop Colour-Word task, following which they completed items assessing perceptions of their performance, concern over mistakes, perceptions of control and anxiety, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and the Russell Causal Dimension Scale. Links with perfectionistic concern over mistakes and anxiety were strongly supported, with impostors reporting less control, greater anxiety, more negative affect and greater concern over mistakes than non-impostors irrespective of experimental condition. The roles of anxiety and perfectionist cognitions in the maintenance of impostor fears are discussed.
Extensive attention has been paid over the past three decades to the stressors involved in training in the health professions. Although empirical studies have identified demographic subgroups of students most likely to become distressed during training, less research has been carried out to evaluate the impact of students' personality characteristics on their adjustment. Severe perfectionism is one such personality trait that has been shown to increase the risk for anxiety and depressive disorders in other populations. Another set of personality traits linked to increased psychological problems has been labelled the `impostor phenomenon', which occurs when high achieving individuals chronically question their abilities and fear that others will discover them to be intellectual frauds. Both perfectionism and the impostor phenomenon would seem to be pertinent factors in the adjustment of health professional students; however, these character traits have not been empirically examined in this population. In the present study psychological distress, perfectionism and impostor feelings were assessed in 477 medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students. Consistent with previous reports, the results showed that a higher than expected percentage of students (27·5%) were currently experiencing psychiatric levels of distress. Strong associations were found between current psychological distress, perfectionism and impostor feelings within each programme and these character traits were stronger predictors of psychological adjustment than most of the demographic variables associated previously with distress in health professional students. Implications for future research, limitations of this study and clinical recommendations are discussed.
Examined the construct validity of the impostor phenomenon (IP) using J. C. Harvey's (1982) measure of IP. IP is defined as an internal experience of intellectual phoniness. A modified version of the IP scale and 7 additional instruments (e.g., a sex-role behavior index, a self-esteem scale) were also administered to 285 university faculty (128 men, 157 women). Men earned a significantly higher mean IP scale score than women. For both sexes, level of faculty rank, self-esteem, and attributing success to effort were negatively related to IP and trait anxiety was positively related to IP. Attributing success to ability was negatively related to IP for men; across sexes there was a moderate, positive relationship between IP and self-monitoring behavior. It is concluded that if experiencing the IP is a barrier to fulfilling one's potential, as is posited by some, then there is a need to refine methods for its early identification and possible intervention. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews research on the impostor phenomenon, an experience of feeling incompetent and of having deceived others about one's abilities. Impostor feelings are shown to be associated with such characteristics as introversion, trait anxiety, a need to look smart to others, a propensity to shame, and a conflictual and nonsupportive family background. The findings are discussed in terms of self psychological theory, with the impostor phenomenon seen as a result of seeking self-esteem by trying to live up to an idealized image to compensate for feelings of insecurity and self-doubt. Therapeutic approaches drawing on self psychology and cognitive therapy are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This chapter reviews and compares various instruments that have been developed to measure the perfectionism construct. To date, the assessment of perfectionism has relied almost exclusively on self-report measures. The first part of the chapter describes each perfectionism scale, provides an overview of the conceptualization and process of scale development, and summarizes evidence for the reliability and validity of each instrument. The second part reviews the relationship between perfectionism measures and higher order personality factors, including new clinical data from the authors' own studies. The order of discussion of perfectionism measures in the chapter generally follows the chronological order of their appearance in the psychological and psychiatric literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) has been identified as a contributor to distress in some high-achieving individuals. In spite of evidence to the contrary, these individuals do not accept their abilities and achievements but believe that the approval and recognition they receive are a fluke and undeserved. Thus, they agonize and fear to the point where they manifest clinical symptoms. This study determined if the IP was manifested in 104 honors English high school students. Results show that the IP was present in 21 Ss (impostors) and absent in 83 Ss (nonimpostors). Discriminant analysis on the Adjective Checklist (ACL) and Irrational Beliefs tests showed that 75% of the Ss were correctly classified on the basis of personality characteristics. Regression analysis showed that the Adapted Child scale on the ACL accounted for 29% of the variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The term "impostor phenomenon" is used to designate an internal experience of intellectual phoniness that appears to be particularly prevalent and intense among a select sample of high achieving women. Certain early family dynamics and later introjection of societal sex-role stereotyping appear to contribute significantly to the development of the impostor phenomenon. Despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, women who experience the impostor phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise. Numerous achievements, which one might expect to provide ample objective evidence of superior intellectual functioning, do not appear to affect the impostor belief. Four factors that contribute to the maintenance of impostor feelings over time are explored. Therapeutic approaches found to be effective in helping women change the impostor self-concept are described. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Female (N = 51) and male (N = 53) marketing managers, which included 10 African-Americans, 15 Hispanics, and 79 Caucasians,
with salaries ranging from 25,000 to25,000 to 350,000, were assessed for fear of success (FOS), fear of failure (FOF), and the imposter
phenomenon (IP). Based on Homer’s (1968) theory that FOS is related to gender roles socialization, it was hypothesized that
FOS would be greater among female managers than among male managers. However, based on the conceptualization of FOF presented
by Birney, Burdick, and Teevan (1969) and the description of the IP offered by Glance and Imes (1978), no significant differences
were expected on these dimensions. This study seeks to clarify the relationships between gender, in relation to FOS, FOF,
and the IP, among marketing managers. FOS was measured by the Fear of Success Scale (Zuckerman and Allison, 1976), FOF was
measured by the application of the Hostile Press Scoring system applied to stories written by responding managers in response
to verbal leads (HP System; Birney et al, 1969), and the IP measured by Harvey’s (1982) IP Scale. Results were as expected.
Female managers were significantly higher than males on FOS, but there were no significant gender differences on FOF or the
IP. Among both female and male managers, significant positive correlations were observed between FOF and the IP. FOS was not
related significantly to either the FOF or the IP. Results were interpreted as indicating differences between culturally based
and intra psychic fear of succeeding.
Perfectionistic concern over mistakes refers to the tendency to react negatively to mistakes, to interpret mistakes as equivalent
to failure, and to believe that one will lose the respect of others following failure (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate,
1990). In this experiment, the reactions of subjects high and low in perfectionistic concern over mistakes to a task with
a high frequency of mistakes and a task with a low frequency of mistakes were examined. People high in perfectionistic concern
over mistakes reacted with more negative mood, lowered confidence, and a greater sense that they “should have done better”
compared to subjects low in perfectionistic concern over mistakes. Furthermore, high-perfectionistic-concern-over-mistake
subjects believed others seeing their performance would perceive them as less intelligent, and they were also less willing
to share their performance results. These differences between subjects high and low in perfectionistic concern over mistakes
were almost exclusive to the high-mistake-frequency condition. There were few differences in the low-mistake-frequency task.
The role of perceived parental rearing style, parental background, self-esteem, mental health and demographic variables upon impostor phenomenon [IP; Psychotherapy: Theory Research and Practice, 15, (1978) 241–247] intensity was investigated using a cross-sectional survey design, with 107 subjects (78 females, 29 males). A regression analysis revealed that both greater degree of perceived parental control and lower levels of self-esteem emerged as significant predictors of impostor fears, together accounting for 50% of the variation in impostor scores. Parental care score, parental educational and occupational level and subject's mental health and demographic information did not show a significant relationship to impostor scores. A post-hoc regression analysis indicated, however, that in addition to parental protection, lower care and poorer mental health was significantly related to increasing levels of impostor scores and with subjects having attended private school reporting lower levels of impostor feelings. In addition, subjects classified as impostors were found to report significantly higher GHQ scores (poorer mental health) than non-impostors. These findings, which are interpreted in terms of parenting styles, indicate that the role of parental overprotection may be especially implicated in impostor fears.
Individuals who suffer from impostor fears harbour secret intense feelings of fraudulence in the face of achievement tasks and situations. This study investigated affective and attributional reactions of impostors following success and failure feedback. N = 164 undergraduate students were presented with a vignette depicting either hypothetical success or failure outcomes in a 2 (feedback: success, fail) × 2 (impostor fears: high low) between-subjects factorial design. Participants then responded to post-vignette items which assessed their cognitive, attributional and affective reactions, and completed several personality measures including the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale [Clance P. R. (1985). The impostor phenomenon: Overcoming the fear that haunts your success. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers]. Elements of perfectionism were evident in a propensity on the part of students with high impostor scores to externalise success and hold high standards for self-evaluation, while being intolerant of their failure to meet these standards. Impostors' greater reporting of negative emotions, together with their tendency to attribute failure internally and overgeneralise a single failure to their overall self-concepts underscore the veracity of clinical observations which suggest links between impostor fears, anxiety, and depression. These findings are important to an understanding of the dynamics and treatment of impostor fears.
This paper draws together the as yet nascent literature on the development of failure-avoidant patterns of behaviour. These are behaviours intended to minimise risk to self-worth in the event of failure, thereby avoiding the negative impact of poor performance in terms of damage to self-worth. Self-worth protection, self-handicapping, impostor fears, procrastination and defensive pessimism fit this category. Increasingly the literature reveals arresting parallels in aspects of parenting and family messages that lay behind these behaviours. On the basis of aspects of parenting and personality variables common to failure-avoidant behaviours, implications are drawn in terms of the manner in which parents and teachers may help to contain their performance-limiting consequences.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of South Florida, 1983. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-120).
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Temple University, 1981. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-95). Photocopy.
Typescript. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 1990. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-111).
This investigation consists of two studies designed to examine perceived fraudulence, its measurement, and the personality traits associated with the experience in young adults. For Study 1, the Perceived Fraudulence Scale (PFS), a new measure constructed for this study, was administered to a sample of 50 college undergraduates, along with several other self-report measures; a semistructured interview and thought-listing exercise were added to provide convergent assessments of perceived fraudulence. Correlational patterns and regression analyses supported the investigators' conceptualization of perceived fraudulence as involving a combination of fraudulent ideation, depressive tendencies, self-criticism, social anxiety, achievement pressures, and self-monitoring skills. Study 2, in which 100 college undergraduates completed several personality questionnaires, replicated the factor structure of the PFS and provided some evidence for the discriminant validity of the construct of perceived fraudulence.
Three studies tested theoretical assumptions regarding the impostor phenomenon. In Study 1, participants completed measures of impostorism, rated themselves, and indicated how they thought other people regarded them. Contrary to standard conceptualizations of impostorism, high impostors were characterized by a combination of low self-appraisals and low reflected appraisals. Study 2 was an experiment designed to determine whether the behaviors associated with the impostor phenomenon are interpersonal strategies. Participants were told that they were expected to perform either better or worse than they had previously predicted on an upcoming test, then expressed their reactions anonymously or publicly. High impostors expressed lower performance expectations than low impostors only when their responses were public. When expectations for performance were low, participants high in impostorism responded differently under public than private conditions. Study 3 examined the possibility that high scores on measures of impostorism may reflect two types of impostors--true impostors (who believe that others perceive them too positively) and strategic impostors (who only claim that they are not as good as other people think). The results did not support this distinction; however, evidence for the strategic nature of impostorism was again obtained. Although people may experience true feelings of impostorism, these studies suggest that the characteristics attributed to so-called impostors are partly interpersonal, self-presentational behaviors designed to minimize the implications of poor performance.
The purpose of this study was to relate the impostor phenomenon (IP) to the Five-factor model of personality. A sample of 190 college students (79 men, 111 women) completed the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (Clance, 1985), the Perceived Fradulence Scale (Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991), and the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Results of correlational and regression analyses support the predicted relations of imposter measures with high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness. Facet-level correlations showed that depression and anxiety were particularly important characteristics of those with imposter feelings as well as low self-discipline and perceived competence. Implications for treatment and future research on the IP are discussed.
The fact that there is a need for assessing depression, whether as an affect, a symptom, or a disorder is obvious by the numerous scales and inventories available and in use today.
In this article, we present psychometric properties on the 14-item Harvey Imposter Phenomenon (IP) Scale (Harvey, 1981) among a sample of U.S. adolescents (N = 136). Item analyses, internal consistency reliability, and principal components analysis (PCA) were computed to assess the reliability and factor structure of the IP scores. Although the internal consistency reliability (e.g., Cronbach's alpha) was reasonably acceptable (alpha =.70), the item analyses and subsequent PCA suggest concern for the content homogeneity and factor structure of composite scores obtained from the 14-item measure. The results of this study suggest that the indiscriminate use of the Harvey IP Scale is cautioned relative to the insufficient psychometric properties.
The Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS; Clance, 1985) was compared to the newly developed Perceived Fraudulence Scale (Kolligian & Sternberg, 1991). The two scales were found to have high internal consistency and to correlate in a similar manner with other measures. Further, discriminant validity evidence for the Impostor Phenomenon (IP) was provided by comparing the CIPS to measures of depression, self-esteem, social anxiety, and self-monitoring. The IP was related to, but substantially discriminable from, these constructs. Finally, construct validity evidence for the CIPS was provided through principal components analysis that yielded three stable factors: Fake, Discount, and Luck.
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