Impostor Syndrome

Do you feel that your success, or your position, is not deserved? Do you feel that, somehow, the compliments you receive or the recognition you are given are not really due to you? Do you feel that, inevitably, people will realise you are an impostor?

If you have had this experience, you are not alone! According to studies, 70% of the population has experienced this phenomenon, known as Impostor Syndrome.

Maya Angelou is one such case: poet, writer, civil rights activist and historian (among other things), after writing 11 books and winning several awards she still doubted her own worth and would say: “I have been deceiving people and they are going to find me out!”

The impostor phenomenon, or impostor syndrome, is a psychological pattern in which individuals discredit and minimise their successes and internalise a fear of being exposed, found out and identified as frauds. People who experience this phenomenon are unable to internalise their success and take credit for their own achievements; on the contrary, they believe their accomplishments are down to luck, or to having somehow deceived others.

The term impostor syndrome first appeared in 1978 with researchers Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes of the University of Georgia, when they noticed that many of the university’s best and most talented students would not take credit for the marks they obtained or the academic success they achieved, and so decided to study a group of 162 highly successful women. The researchers concluded that most of them minimised their achievements and believed their success would disappear as soon as other people discovered their terrible secret: “that they were a fraud — impostors of a success they did not deserve!”

Although the initial research was on women, it is now known that it affects men just as much.

You can see how common this phenomenon is by reflecting on the following questions and noticing whether they recur in your life:

• Do you attribute your success to luck, to being in the right place at the right time, or to a computer error?

• Do you minimise your competence — do you believe that if you succeeded, anyone could have?

• Do you agonise over the smallest flaw in your work?

• Even when you receive awards, or others recognise your worth and talent, do you believe you do not have the ability and talent they attribute to you?

• Do you fear that others will find out you are not as intelligent or competent as you appear to be?

The reasons that lead to the development of this pattern are varied, and relate to personality traits (such as perfectionism), the parenting styles of one’s family of origin (such as high expectations, overprotective parents, neglect), changes in one’s work or academic context, low self-esteem and a sense of unworthiness, among others.

Living with and experiencing the impostor phenomenon can limit quality of life and wellbeing, owing to the underlying fear of the “impostor being unmasked” and the constant self-monitoring this requires. Perhaps the greatest impact of this syndrome is that it often limits the courage to seize new opportunities, to explore potential areas of interest and to follow a meaningful path.

To overcome this condition, it is helpful to talk to others who feel the same, so as to normalise it. It is also important to question the truthfulness of our thoughts, especially when they are incongruent with reality, and to develop a self-compassionate inner dialogue — to treat yourself and speak to yourself as you would treat or speak to a dear friend.

It should be stressed that the impostor phenomenon is not a psychological pathology; it is simply a psychological pattern that is very common among human beings, particularly among the most talented. As Bertrand Russell said: “The trouble with the world is that the fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”