Let's be honest. Everybody has at least once felt like an impostor, I have for sure many times. On this post I will try to tackle this task of presenting what the scientific evidence has to say about the Impostor Syndrome or Phenomenon along with some other very interesting sources from people whose work I follow.
What is the Impostor Phenomenon?
The Impostor Syndrome or Phenomenon, represents a psychological state in which individuals experience themselves as inadequate, not believing in their own abilities, despite their factual achievements, accomplishments and qualifications. Corollary: inability to internalize success, attributing it to external sources - oversight, luck, error -, and in constant fear of being exposed as a fraud or as an IMPOSTOR.
It is noteworthy that the Impostor Syndrome is not a Syndrome defined in DSM-5 - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, even though it is consensually a very prevalent form of self-doubt.
There are a certain traits associated with high levels of impostorism - the quality of feeling like an impostor -, such as agitation, apprehensiveness, insecurity, perfectionism, procrastination, stress, dysthymia - a milder but long-lasting form of depression -, etc. These then behave as a positive feedback loop, a vicious cycle, determining a feeling of proneness to failure. People may become less productive, procrastinate more, and feel more insecure.
Does Social Context matter?
Sure it does! The usual approach to Impostor Syndrome as a phenomenon of the individual implies that they are the root and solution of it. Nevertheless, this impostorism is often linked to women and members of ethnic minority groups, which points to being a social phenomenon. It stems unequivocally always from social interactions.
Impostorism thrives in highly demanding settings - on average 2 out of 3 people suffer from it -, i.e. in families and professional domains with higher education and social inequalities. In environments where asking for help and identifying knowledge gaps are treated as a weakness and incompetence - healthcare, financing and consulting sectors, etc - there are higher levels of reported and presumably of unreported impostorism.
In Gottlieb, 2020 - up to 60% of medical students and up to 44% of residents reported elevated level impostor phenomenon, while suggesting that lower levels of impostorism might be much higher.
Residents are more likely to incorporate feedback from an educator who demonstrates vulnerability
Interestingly and due to these tendencies, healthcare professionals suffering from Impostor Syndrome often over-prepare and work longer hours to make up for their self-perceived failures, leading to neglect of self-care and avoidance of opportunities.
Why do we feel like Impostors?
Chrousos et al, 2020, described three possible roots for the Impostor Syndrome:
#1 Evolutionary Root ๐งฌ
Impostorism could be a remnant of a selected trait which could have offered survival and reproductive advantagewithin a social hierarchy structure. It could have permitted the anticipation of potential threats - antecipatory anxiety - or reduction of exposure in face of danger - withdrawal from potential threat.
#2 Psychological Root ๐ญ
Some hypotheses here, but the most agreed upon ones are:
- Self-induced feeling of failure to serve as an impulse to reach higher levels of perfectionism?
- Primary emotion of shame, helping the tribe to stay together?
- Subclinical anedonia and alexithymia, leading to fear of success?
- A form of Premeditatio mallorum?
Note: Anedonia - diminished pleasure almost all activities of the day; Alexithymia - personality trait - inability to identify and describe emotions experienced by oneself; Premediatio mallorum - negative visualization, a Stoic concept as a way to reach existential sobriety, visualizing and preparing for worst case scenarios.
#3 Neurobiological Root ๐ง
It was also suggested that a chronically increased Stress System activation - assessed through Trier Social Stress Test - could be a reasonable etiology - and possibly a consequence - for the Impostor Syndrome, along with a failure to activate the Reward System, leading to an effort-reward imbalance perception.
Stress is associated with activation of Brainstem Locus Ceruleus/Norepinephrine System, which causes arousal and regulates the Autonomic Nervous System and the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis.
โ ๏ธ In the quest of achieving happiness through success, modern society stimulates activities that ultimately boost the brain reward system, which is known to exhibit tolerance
Intermittently secreted mediators -serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine, the happiness, a๏ฌliation, and reward hormones, respectively - participate in achieving constitutional happiness and optimism, BUT highly frequent activation of the Stress System could lead to desensitization of the reward system and constitutional unhappiness and pessimism.
Are there types of Impostors?
Not all impostors are alike, we can differentiate them in 2 types. Both can report high levels of impostorism, but exhibit different levels of the commonly associated traits:
- True impostors - regard themselves as incompetent and suffer from high levels of stress, reporting also the associated traits.
- Strategic impostors - mostly unaffected by psychological impairments. More positive self-view with a negative self-presentation, strategically motivated.
This ensures higher likeability, signals caution and modesty - 2 socially valued traits -, which when in combination with good performance evokes more positive feedback than otherwise.
What's my level of Impostorism?
This 20-item Questionnaire can help asses the level of self-concept of impostorism โ Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale - CIPS
โ ๏ธ If you want to assess yourself for some of the traits associated with the Impostor Phenomenon, I will leave here some handy links for the following traits: Anxiety, Self-Evaluations, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Irritation.
How to tackle the Impostor Phenomenon?
In our highly competitive era but increasingly more aware of mental health, tackling this feeling of being an Impostor is fundamental.
Here is some of the many strategies you can utilize:
#1 Recognize Strengths & Weaknesses ๐ช๐ผ
This recognition process of your own strengths and weaknesses without influence of misperceived internal or external judgements is of utmost importance! These can be anything, even daily affirmations in a 5-bullet journal.
#2 Acknowledge Accomplishments ๐
The acknowledgment of objective and concrete evidence of your achievements helps developing a positive mindset towards yourself, a better self-evaluation.
#3 Spotlight Effect ๐ฆ
The Spotlight Effect states that we have the tendency to overestimate the extent to which other people notice us. In most of cases, we are not that important and don't have a spotlight pointed at us.
#4 Growth Mindset ๐
The Impostor Syndrome can potentiate personal growth, as Shane Parrish said:
Feeling an impostor at the right level can be a driving force to be better, but at a higher level it can paralyze you
Identify actionable goals act upon them!
Focusing on **Growth** Mindset - belief that our abilities are learnable and can be developed -, and not on a Fixed one, is key in tackling impostorism. It is a constant challenge separating ourselves from the role that we're playing, our identity from our capabilities. Step into the role! in Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon.
#5 Seek Legitimate Feedback ๐ฃ๏ธ
The communication of the sense of value and worth is fundamental. Positive feedback highly reduces the levels of this impostor feeling, simultaneously, the degree of which we feel this impostorism, also influences feedback receptivity, which highlights the importance of the quality of the feedback we should seek.
We should normalize admitting knowledge gaps and asking for assistance instead of just goal achievement as it enhances feedback receptivity and growth
Hetero-Appraisal Effect โ preferentially seeking opportunities which are more likely to garner praise, might momentarily tackle Impostor Syndrome, but paradoxically harm the learner by reducing feedback depth and quality.
#6 Accept Recurrence ๐
Accept that The Impostor Syndrome might happen again and it is part of the process when in face of challenges. Seth Godin explains how it is ingrained in the creative process.
#7 Expert Advice ๐ฉ๐ปโโ๏ธ
If you are suffering from high levels of stress and this feeling affects you almost daily, talk to an expert in psychotherapy. Mentors are also of great value.
I hope you got something out of this certainly long post which you can use and share with your friends and family ๐
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Let's be honest. Everybody has at least once felt like an impostor, I have for sure many times. On this post I will try to tackle this, again meta-task, of presenting what the scientific evidence has to say about the Impostor Syndrome or Phenomenon along with some other very interesting sources from people whose work I follow.