My introduction to the “impostor syndrome” - the term, not the concept itself - was around two years ago, during a very last-minute and rushed exam revision session with a good friend and a very reliable study partner. Last-minute work was our expertise, and we lived by the motto “diamonds are made under pressure”.[1] It was part of one of our many complaints about exams, assignments, and academic life in general, when we started to question whether our academic performance was, indeed, as horrible as we were making it out to be, or if we were being exceptionally pessimistic about it, or in her words:

“Do we have the impostor syndrome or something?”

What is the Impostor Syndrome?

A very broad definition of the impostor syndrome, or phenomenon as it is referred to in some academic studies, is the persistent doubting of one’s own achievements and relying on explanations such as luck or other, usually undefined, external structures to explain one’s own success.[2] This also involves a rejection of solid, tangible achievements as indicators of success, one example being grades achieved.[3] Combined, these result in feelings of dishonesty towards all those surrounding you. You know something nobody else does; that you are a liar who has somehow made it to where they are out of sheer luck and nothing else. Therefore, to compensate for this, you must strive for nothing but pure excellence and be an overachiever;[4] maybe that way you could finally live up to the unrealistic expectation others have set out for you.

This may sound ridiculous and even statistically impossible; also, why would anyone care about what you do and how you do it? However, these are some of the most common symptoms of the syndrome, which is said to have prevalence rates of around 70%.[5] A large systematic review by Bravata et al. reports high prevalence among all genders, those aged between 16 to 50 and those belonging to ethnic minorities.[6] Alongside feeling like an impostor, experiencing depression and anxiety, 40% of graduate students also feel like they have run out of the energy to complete not just the upcoming tasks, but to do anything, also known as experiencing” “burnout”.[3]

The very first article on this topic by Dr Clance and Dr Imes, was on the experiences of high-achieving women whose hard work in their respective occupations had been validated through sources such as awards earned, although this has since been generalised onto men too.[7]  They outlined what is called an impostor cycle, which starts with an assignment given to an individual, followed by feeling anxious and doubting oneself.[8] The former does result in hard work – maybe too much work even - and consequent feelings of pride and accomplishment very briefly, however, this then gives way to explanations of success using luck or other external factors, as mentioned. Choosing to procrastinate, on the other hand, results in the individual not completing any tasks until the deadline approaches, followed by a period of frantic preparation.

Interestingly, these two, seemingly different pathways lead to the same destination; a possible and probable positive outcome will be seen as the product of luck, and positive feedback will be discredited. Differing levels of hard work are viewed through the same lens of luck, and these recurrent events lead to the escalation of initially minor feelings of guilt into feeling like an impostor.

Reasons for Occurrence: Situational vs Individual Variables

There have been numerous attempts to understand why this phenomenon occurs. One idea is that this may be an experience that everyone goes through in order to adapt to the changing requirements of their work environment.[9] This versatile idea focused on the situation is somewhat supported by findings on almost similar rates of prevalence amongst all genders. Applying this to my own experience, it did make sense; with every academic year, my and my fellow classmates’ academic requirements only increased, and after a point, it was just normalised to complain about this but still "power through". However, this explanation fails to explain why it is that some are more vulnerable to this issue than others.

A different approach would be to examining the individual factors, i.e., personality traits, which could make individuals struggle with adapting to the highly demanding, ever-changing environments they are in. There appears to be a strong positive correlation between perfectionism and experiencing the impostor syndrome,[10] which could explain why this issue involves a never-ending strive for the best, and never actually feeling like it is achieved. Bernard et al. used the Big Five personality traits – a collection of five factors summarising different aspects of one’s personality – and self-reported symptoms of the syndrome.[11] Firstly, they found a positive correlation between self-reports of the impostor syndrome and high neuroticism – feelings such as anxiety and fear – possibly explaining the constant stress endured as a part of the syndrome. However, they also found a negative correlation between experiencing the syndrome and high conscientiousness, meaning that they are more likely to be careless and disorganised than others. This is interesting, as conscientiousness and perfectionism are found to go hand in hand in cases where the impostor syndrome is not considered.[10] This could point out to an inherent clash experienced by the individuals suffering from the syndrome; whilst they need to work hard and be organised to be perfect, they work in a disorganised manner. It can also explain why two types of working ethic suggested in the impostor cycle do not contain level of work appropriate to the demands of the task. Whilst one involves working too hard and preparing too much for the task at hand, the other involves doing the bare minimum until the very last minute, then followed by a fear of not being perfect and working too hard, again, to compensate for this.

Possible Issues

It appears that the evidence and the symptoms of the impostor syndrome, situational and individual factors mentioned, all fall in line. It is logical for me on a personal level too. It explains why I find myself completing work at the very last minute, the anxiety and guilt following an accomplishment; the burnout overcasting my passion for my degree sometimes. However, the research is far from perfect, and there are numerous issues still unresolved. Firstly, most of the studies used have taken place in academic settings, however, in my view, this issue is not explained, nor addressed enough. More questions arise than those answered: are there fundamental differences between industry and academia underlying this high prevalence in academia? Alternatively, could this high prevalence be due to an increased awareness amongst those in academia compared to others? These questions, and the possibility of having more, make it difficult to have a clear understanding of the prevalence of the syndrome. Secondly, the situational and individual factors mentioned may be extrapolated differently, incorrectly, to blame the individuals suffering in the system. Focusing on the situation implies that it is a temporary condition, however, many suffer from this for long years. Individual factors, on the other hand, imply that it is the individual’s fault for being too anxious, too weak, whilst taking the locus of responsibility away from what is wrong with the system. By the system, I mean two things: the toxic nature of the education system and the environment post-education.

Role of Education and the Job Market

Education is supposed to be informative, teaching us how to be fascinated by the wonders surrounding us; teaching us how to learn and discover to start with. However, we are soon introduced to a life of competition where our grades start to go beyond being indicators of how much we learn; they establish our status in the classroom. The presence of status induces good feelings, and it can allow some to feel like they have established their intellectual superiority whereas, for others, pleasure may come from knowing they have made their teacher, parents and/or other important individuals in their lives proud.[12] Either way, we can see patterns of positive reinforcement here, where students are made to believe that doing something good, in this case working hard and getting good grades, will lead to rewards being earned, such as feeling liked. Although this can be a useful teaching strategy in the classroom, we should also consider the dangers to this, as this can result in children establishing their self-worth around the grades they receive. This can cause them to constantly seek good grades, and the consequent rewards, almost causing an addiction to success. The danger lies in the possibility of creating academic standards for oneself which are so high, yet once achieved, feel so good. As absurd as it may sound, the fact that there is an entire field of research on how the mechanisms of positive reinforcement can lead to addiction to substance use, rather than the so-called ‘addictive’ nature of the substances can make this a possibility to consider.[13]

The work ethic we are socialised into during our school years also nurtures the impostor syndrome. We are taught to work hard, and that this hard work will eventually lead to something good. Yet, what if this concept of 'something good' becomes void, and what we are left with is a desire to work hard for the sake of working hard? Times have changed; as we became more open to talk about our issues previously deemed to be taboo, oversharing for the sake of boosting one’s presence has almost become the norm. Thanks to social media, the showcase of achievements, especially millennial and Gen Z seems to be the main targets of this.[14] We are constantly bombarded with the messages of productivity; social media is full of people almost embodying the word itself. LinkedIn has become the new Instagram, and TikTok’s full of 20-somethings taking videos of their daily, 6 am to 11 pm routine revolving around their work. It is tiring to see so many people are being so productive when you are sitting on your sofa watching Turkish soap operas; it makes you feel worthless as you take an hour-long break to eat or decide to read under the sun because it is just a sunny afternoon. So, I cannot help but think, “How will I ever get anywhere if I am not like them? How have I ever got anywhere?”. And, you guessed it, comes in the impostor syndrome.

The impostor syndrome is a condition experienced by many, regardless of age, gender and ethnic background; it creates a toxic understanding of one’s work ethic and invalidates one’s achievements. It is comorbid with disorders such as anxiety and depression and can be related to factors ranging from being in stressful situations to one’s personality traits. Without invalidating people’s experiences, I do also find it dangerous to blame everything on the possibility that it is a disorder, and that there is nothing to do when there are other questionable experiences we go through from a very young age and continue to do so. Furthermore, more research on different social groups and work environments, as well as on topics such as overcoming the impostor syndrome, should be carried out, However, the one thing I do agree with is the fact that maybe seeing this as a syndrome, using a word with such negative connotations, can stop us from normalising overworking, overachieving, and instead, help us acknowledge and internalise our achievements whilst knowing how and when to take a break.

References

1 I would love to give a legitimate reference to this, however, I’m not going to pretend to know this was said by Caroline Buchanan, Sope Agbelusi or whoever’s name you will come across when you Google this quote.

2 Feenstra, S., Begeny, C.T., Ryan, M.K., Rink, F.A., Stoker, J.I. and Jordan, J., Contextualizing the Impostor “Syndrome”. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, p.3206. (2020).

3 Villwock, J.A., Sobin, L.B., Koester, L.A. and Harris, T.M., Impostor syndrome and burnout among American medical students: a pilot study. International Journal of Medical Education, 7. p.364. (2016).

4 Pervez, A., Brady, L.L., Mullane, K., Lo, K.D., Bennett, A.A. and Nelson, T.A., An empirical investigation of mental illness, impostor syndrome, and social support in management doctoral programs. Journal of Management Education. (2021)

5 Gravois, J. You’re not fooling anyone. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/youre-not-fooling-anyone/. (2017).

6 Bravata, D.M., Watts, S.A., Keefer, A.L., Madhusudhan, D.K., Taylor, K.T., Clark, D.M., Nelson, R.S., Cokley, K.O. and Hagg, H.K. Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of impostor syndrome: a systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(4). pp.1252-1275. (2020).

7 Anderson, L.V. Feeling Like an Impostor Is Not a Syndrome. The Ladder. https://slate.com/business/2016/04/is-impostor-syndrome-real-and-does-it-affect-women-more-than-men.html. (2016).

8 Pauline R.; Imes, Suzanne A. "The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention" (PDF). Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice. 15 (3): 241–247. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.452.4294. doi:10.1037/h0086006. (1978).

9 Cooper, B. Imposter Syndrome: Why You Have It and What You Can Do About It https://zapier.com/blog/what-is-imposter-syndrome/. (2017).

10 Ferrari, J.R. and Thompson, T. Impostor fears: Links with self-presentational concerns and self-handicapping behaviours. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(2), pp.341-352. (2006).

11 Bernard, N.S., Dollinger, S.J. and Ramaniah, N.V., Applying the big five personality factors to the impostor phenomenon. Journal of Personality Assessment, 78(2), pp.321-333. (2002).

12 Neumeister, K.L.S. Factors influencing the development of perfectionism in gifted college students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 48(4), pp.259-274. (2004).

13 Fidler, J.A. and West, R. Enjoyment of smoking and urges to smoke as predictors of attempts and success of attempts to stop smoking: a longitudinal study. Drug and alcohol dependence, 115(1-2), pp.30-34. (2011).

14 Gilkchrist, K. How millennials and Gen Z are reshaping the future of the workforce. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/05/how-millennials-and-gen-z-are-reshaping-the-future-of-the-workforce.html. (2019).