Imposter Syndrome: What It Is and How to Combat It

Written by Brynn Legros

Edited by Taina Stuart

Have you ever felt like some or all of your achievements were just due to chance or have  you noticed that you feel like your success is fraudulent? Maybe you just got lucky, or maybe you're experiencing the common psychological phenomenon called imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is a psychological experience that impacts many people across all cultures and genders (Alsaleem & Alyousef, 2021). It is most prevalent and therefore most commonly studied among students and highly successful individuals. Those who experience imposter syndrome tend to attribute all of their success and achievements to chance or error, often assuming that their success is due to external factors like luck. This leads to a feeling of being an imposter or a fraud in your field of work or academics (Alsaleem & Alyousef, 2021). Imposter syndrome is important to address because it is a phenomenon that affects a wide range of people and often leads to or is a result of psychological distress, generally in the form of anxiety which can ultimately lead to lower performance. 

One of the most common discourses surrounding imposter syndrome is what causes it. Based on prior research there are several common factors that individuals who experience imposter syndrome share. These common factors include character traits such as perfectionism, fear of failure, comparison to others, guilt associated with success and generalized anxiety. It is also shown that imposter syndrome is positively correlated with low self esteem, meaning that the lower self esteem a person has, the higher or more severe their experience of imposter syndrome is likely to be (Feigofsky, 2022). An accumulation of literature reviews has highlighted that some of the most common factors associated with the risk of having imposter syndrome are anxiety, low self esteem and perfectionism. It is also important to state that imposter syndrome is not a mental illness but often a symptom of one. It is likely developed due to character traits and ideas about self image rather than a neurological or psychological dysfunction (Wang, 2019). 

Since imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon, there are lots of things that can be done to combat it, both personally and therapeutically. One of the most common therapeutic interventions used to combat imposter syndrome is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT. CBT is administered by licensed therapists who are skilled in cognition and studying behavior. CBT involves challenging thoughts and encouraging behaviors that make the individual feel good. An example of how someone could change their behavior to combat imposter syndrome would be reviewing their resume and actively using it as evidence of personal achievement to battle the cognitive distortions involved in imposter syndrome (Feigofsky, 2022).

Overall, imposter syndrome is something everyone can be subjected to regardless of general mental health. Therefore, it is important to know about and understand as we navigate the academic and professional world. We can easily combat feelings of imposter syndrome by changing our thoughts and behaviors and putting effort into activities that make us feel good about ourselves!

References

Alsaleem, L., & Alyousef, N. (2021, July-September). Prevalence of Self-Esteem and Imposter Syndrome and Their Associated Factors among King Saud University Medican Students. Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine, 4(3), 226-231. 10.4103/jnsm.jnsm_167_20

Feigofsky, S. (2022, December). Imposter Syndrome. Heart Rhythm Case Reports, 8(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrcr.2022.11.001

Wang, K. T. (2019, June 1). Imposter Syndrome among Russian students: The link between perfectionism and psychological distress. Personality and Individual Differences, 143, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.005