Today I'm tackling another popular topic of Imposter Syndrome to answer the questions:
What is the Imposter Syndrome?
What are the Imposter Syndrome's correlates and outcomes?
Do you have the Imposter Syndrome?
How do we manage the Imposter Syndrome?
What is the Imposter syndrome?
First things first; if you're a nerd like me who wants to look this up in the scientific journals, they don't call it "Imposter Syndrome," they actually call it the "Imposter Phenomenon" (which led to my initial struggle in finding relevant papers on this topic in the scientific literature, despite it being soooo popular in general media.) But it has also been called the "fraud syndrome," "perceived fraudulence," and "imposter experience.")
One surprising thing that came from my high-level review of the psychological literature on this topic is that currently, researchers DO NOT AGREE on what this concept means.
This was surprising to me because it seems to be all over the internet and mentioned a lot in the vernacular, so I thought the state of the science was further along!
The main issue is whether it's ONE core thing (unidimensional) or MULTIPLE-THINGS (multidimensional) bundled together. So, I don't find it possible to give you a one-sentence definition of this, but more productive to outline what the researchers have been listing as part of this phenomenon.
When the focus is on ONE core thing, it's feeling like an imposter or feeling fraudulent, meaning that people with Imposter Syndrome believe that others perceive them more favourably (or successful) than is really true and warranted. There are "core feelings of inauthenticity that are central to impostorism." (Leary et al, 2000).
It used to be linked to only "objectively" successful people. However, it is now seen as impacting anyone, whether they are "objectively" successful or not.
Other factors that have been proposed to be part of the Imposter Syndrome are:
having the fear that others will find out that they are frauds
having difficulty in internalizing their success, i.e., assuming their success is due to luck, receiving help from others, or extra hard work, not due to their own skills, competence, abilities, or intelligence, which leads those with Imposter Syndrome to dismiss praise and downplay true positive evaluations.
behaving in ways to maintain their image of being an imposter by (intentionally or unintentionally) engaging in self-sabotaging or self-handicapping strategies to undermine their own performance. (In fact, one study showed that self-handicapping is one of the best predictors of the Imposter Syndrome.)
The newer conceptualization of the Imposter Syndrome is that there is also high levels of self-monitoring and a vigilance on impression management.
Some background on self-monitoring and impression management:
We humans live in a social world. And back in the days where we lived in small hunter-gatherer groups, there was a real risk of death if we did something to get literally shunned by our group. So we have evolved certain brain mechanisms that monitor our social value in our tribe.
Although today, there is waaay less chance of us dying if a few people don't think highly of us, some people have hyperactive internal gauge of their social value. So they become very concerned with their social-image, as they tie others' opinions of themselves a lot to their self-worth.
These individuals possess high levels of self-monitoring, which is carefully monitoring how they behave, how they talk, how they show their emotions to really control how they come across to others, and regulate their behaviours to accommodate the social situations. And the motivation behind this may be to protect themselves from social disapproval.
People with Imposter Syndrome have this strong impression management mechanisms. And for them, if they fail to perform as (what they think) others expected, then they think they would look bad in the eyes of others, and end up feeling bad about themselves.
So, as a way to pre-emptively protect their self-image, people with Imposter Syndrome proactively advertise that they have the Imposter Syndrome, which then,
allows them to feel good when others sympathize with them in response to hearing they have Imposter Syndrome
if they actually fail to do a good job, no one can "blame" them for performing poorly, so they can keep their social-image and self-esteem in tact, and
if they actually perform well, then the impact is inflated.
In other words, those with Imposter Syndrome don't actually think that they suck; they are (consciously or unconsciously) just telling people they feel like they suck, so that if they end up not performing well, no one would view them as badly, and they can keep their self-esteem in tact and not feel more ashamed.
The evidence that those with Imposter Syndrome practice a self-presentation strategy (i.e., actively engaging in ways to manipulate others' perceptions of themselves to protect their self image) comes from a study that showed that, those with high Imposter Syndrome tendencies were rating their own performance expectations differently when they were rating themselves in private vs in public. When the responses were private, both high and low imposters rated their own expected performance similarly. However, when their responses were public, the high imposters rated their own expected performance as lower.
This study even looked at whether there's actually two types of imposters; one where they actually believed that people think too highly of them and another where they are being strategic and claiming that they are not as good as people think. The evidence showed that all high imposters were the latter kind, i.e., they were all practicing a self-presentation strategy.
Moreover, another study has shown extremely strong relationships between the Imposter Syndrome and Vulnerable Narcissism, which makes sense as both at the core are about people regulating their need for self-esteem and being inauthenticity due to "hiding" who they really are.
What are the Imposter Syndrome’s Correlates and Outcomes?
Despite originally being found in successful women (Clance & Imes, 1978), current research shows no strong gender differences in this tendency.
But it has been shown to relate to a whole host of negative things.
It comes with negative feelings of:
anxiety
shame (but not guilt; one study showed that shame-proneness is one of the best predictors of Imposter Syndrome. For the difference between shame vs guilt, here is a good infographic)
depression
It relates to:
perfectionistic traits
fear of failure
fear of success
pessimism
It comes with negative thoughts and evaluations:
self-critical thoughts
negative self-evaluation
achievement pressure
lower self-esteem
thinking they're less capable than peers
Which relates to lower:
self-acceptance
sense of purpose in life
personal growth
life satisfaction
positive relations with others
Which also leads to:
higher levels of stress
higher levels of burnout
decreased job performance
decreased job satisfaction
suicidal ideation
One surprisingly "good" outcome for organizations is there the Imposter Syndrome is related to higher organizational commitment (i.e., not leaving the company due to thinking that there is a higher cost to do so).
Finally, the Imposter Syndrome or Imposter Phenomenon is NOT officially recognized as a psychiatric disorder nor is it listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). However, some practitioners have recommended that it be added to the DSM so that "the approach to patients with these symptoms can be codified for behavioural health providers" (Bravata, et al. 2020)
Do You have the Imposter Syndrome?
Based on the potential multiple definitions of it, you may have only certain aspects of the Imposter Syndrome, and only to a certain degree. Remember that in any psychological construct, they are all continuums, so you may have like 1% of it and someone else may have 50% of it, etc., it's usually rarely 0% or 100%. So it's completely normal if you see yourself in some of these items.
Here I'm sharing the shortest scale that measures the core aspect of the Imposter Syndrome. If you want the most commonly used one with multiple dimensions combined, go to the bottom Notes section for the 20-item Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS).
Imposterism Scale
(Leary , Patton, Orlando, & Funk, 2000)
Scale rating:
1 = Not at all characteristic of me
2 = Slightly characteristic of me
3 = Moderately characteristic of me
4 = Very characteristic of me
5 = Extremely characteristic of me
Sometimes I am afraid I will be discovered for who I really am.
I tend to feel like a phony.
I'm afraid people important to me may find out that I'm not as capable as they think I am.
In some situations I feel like an imposter.
Sometimes I'm afraid others will discover how much knowledge or ability I really lack.
In some situations I feel like a "great pretender"; that is, I'm not as genuine as others think I am.
In some situations I act like an imposter.
How to interpret your score: Add up the ratings for each item. If it's higher than 11, you may be above the median in terms of Imposterism. If it's lower than 11, you may be below the median in terms of Imposterism. (Note: This research paper use this scale as a continuous variable, thus they used the median split to group people into low vs high Imposterism with their data at Mdn = 11).
How Do We Manage the Imposter Syndrome?
The BAD news is that there is currently NO STRONG EVIDENCE FOR INTERVENTIONS TO TREAT IT despite all the mainstream media articles or blog posts on how to overcome the Imposter Syndrome. So, if think you have the Imposter Syndrome, and you have been beating yourself up over why the advice you've read online haven't helped you yet, it could be because no one really knows what will work or help yet
The (kind of) GOOD news is that, the Imposter Syndrome has comorbid conditions that HAVE EVIDENCE-BASED TREATMENTS. Comorbidity are other psychological issues found to co-exist with the Imposter Syndrome, such as depressive symptoms and anxiety.
Evidence has shown that Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) , both evidence-based treatments, have been shown to work in helping with depression and anxiety.
Thus, even if there are no go-to method to help with the Imposter Syndrome yet, you can still seek professional help with ACT or CBT as it may help the Imposter Syndrome from the side door instead. For example, when you are faced with an achievement-related task, instead of feeling anxiety, you learn to manage that anxiety, so you don't end up in the Imposter Cycle (see image below).
Clance’s (1985) model of the Imposter Cycle, as depicted in Sakulku & Alexander (2011).
TODAY'S ACTIONS
As there are no clear evidence on what to suggest to curb the Imposter Syndrome, what I can recommend for now is to check out a few things that are found to be related to the Imposter Syndrome, which is how to deal with Perfectionism from my previous post or with Vulnerable Narcissism in another previous post.
Other tips from Positivepsychology.com to try:
Replace Negative Self-Talk with Positive Self-Talk
One issue with the Imposter Syndrome is the internal negative self-talk. However, it's possible to start slowly changing the strength or brain pathway to keep from going to the negative self-talk path to instead practice the positive self-talk path.
It's definitely a practice to make the positive talk become more and more natural for you!
The "What If?" Bias
Similar to above but from a slightly different angle.
Our imaginative "What if?" brain may imagine the worst case scenario of what is about to happen when you go perform a task. But because you literally haven't done it yet, you can't discount the other plausible outcome that it could be a positive one.
Visualize Success
Part of problem with the Imposter Syndrome is we may end up being so anxious about the task that we then fall into the self-fulfilling prophecy of then messing it up due to the anxiety.
So one suggestion is to mentally rehearse what you're about to do beforehand via visualization
Track and Measure Success
Another strategy to combat the Imposter Syndrome assumption that your success isn't due to your own skills or abilities is to use "data" to track your success.
Our brain is bias to remember bad things such as the times you did fail, but we want to overcome this by making sure we have evidence of our involvement in the success of a task.
If you find that you have very strong Imposter Phenomenon tendencies, and it's really negatively impacting your mental health, seek professional help with therapists certified in ACT or CBT.
Until next time, Transcenders!
~Pylin
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NOTES
Great infographic on Shame vs Guilt https://www.nicabm.com/guilt-vs-shame/
Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS; Clance, 1985)
Note: This is the most commonly used scale to measure Imposter Phenomenon (there are more than two scales out there), but there is currently no consensus in the psychological literature as to whether this is the best one. "Popularity is not necessarily a reflection of higher quality." (Mak et al., 2019)
Scale rating:
1 = Not true at all
2 = Rarely
3 = Sometimes
4 = Often
5 = Very true
I have often succeeded on a test or task even though I was afraid that I would not do well before I undertook the task.
I can give the impression that I'm more competent than I really am.
I avoid evaluations if possible and have a dread of others evaluating me.
When people praise me for something I've accomplished, I'm afraid I won't be able to live up to their expectations of me in the future.
I somethings think I obtained my present position or gained my present success because I happened to be in the right place at the right time or knew the right people.
I'm afraid people important to me may find out that I'm not as capable as they think I am.
I tend to remember the incidents in which I have not done my best more than those times I have done my best.
I rarely do a project or task as well as I'd like to do it.
Sometimes I feel or believe that my success in my life or in my job has been the result of some kind of error.
It's hard for me to accept compliments or praise about my intelligence or accomplishments.
At times, I feel my success has been due to some kind of luck.
I'm disappointed at times in my present accomplishments and think I should have accomplished much more.
Sometimes I'm afraid others will discovery how much knowledge or ability I really lack.
I'm often afraid that I may fail at a new assignment or undertaking even thought I generally do well at what I attempt.
When I've succeeded at something and received recognition for my accomplishments, I have doubts that I can keep repeating that success.
If I receive a great deal of praise and recognition for something I've accomplished, I tend to discount the important of what I've done.
I often compare my ability to those around me and think they may be more intelligent than I am.
I often worry about not succeeding with a project or examination, even though others around me have considerable confidence that I will do well.
If I'm going to receive a promotion or gain recognition of some kind, I hesitate to tell others until it is an accomplished fact.
I feel bad and discouraged if I'm not "the best" or at least "very special" in situations that involve achievement.
How to interpret your score: Add up the ratings for each item.
If you score 40 or less, you may have few Imposter experiences
If you score between 41-60, you may have moderate Imposter experiences
(Note: some have used the cut-off score of 62 as No vs Imposter Syndrome)
If you score between 61-80, you may frequently have Imposter feelings
If you score 81+, then you may have intense Imposter feelings