Impostor syndrome makes you feel as if you don't deserve your success. You feel unworthy of respect, question your accomplishments, and feel you cannot measure up to people's expectations. Impostor syndrome negatively affects your life, personal relationships, and work. Identifying the signs of impostor syndrome, understanding why you have impostor syndrome, and overcoming impostor syndrome are essential for your work, life, and happiness.

What Is Impostor Syndrome?

Impostor syndrome isn't a medical condition. It's correctly called the impostor phenomenon or impostorism. Another name for impostorism is perceived fraudulence. People with the impostor phenomenon are high achievers who believe they do not deserve success. They feel they aren't as competent or intelligent as others think. They fear being evaluated and called out as frauds.

Impostor Phenomenon Types

Impostor phenomenon isn't the same for everyone but has similar results for careers. Here are examples of the types of impostor phenomena.

The Perfectionist

Not everyone experiences impostorism the same. Individuals have different experiences with impostorism. Education researcher Dr. Valerie Young states there are five impostor types:

Perfectionists believe they need to be one hundred percent perfect. One flaw or perceived flaw is enough to cause perfectionists to doubt their abilities. They're afraid people will laugh at them about any mistake.

The Expert

Expert impostorism is an individual who feels they don't know everything about a subject. They are afraid they aren't capable of every step in a process. Experts don't feel knowledgeable if there is always more to know about a topic. The feeling of not being knowledgeable is especially true for people in rapidly changing technical fields.

The Natural Genius

Natural Geniuses believe they are not naturally smart or competent. Taking longer to master a skill frustrates them, even if they eventually master it. They share the same fear of making mistakes as the perfectionists. Natural geniuses feel like impostors even when they gain competence in a subject.

The Soloist

Soloists feel like impostors if they have to ask for help. They think that if they can't meet their goals or move forward in their careers alone, there's something wrong with them.

The Superperson

A Superperson feels they must be the hardest worker. They think they should reach the highest achievement, but they feel they are never good enough. They are afraid to believe in their success. Superpeople discount praise and are self-critical. They attribute achievements to external factors such as luck, social assets, or hard work. They don't believe they have personal qualities such as ability, intelligence, and skills.

Symptoms of Impostor Phenomenon

Impostor Phenomenon shows in several ways, but symptoms include:

Being unable to assess your competence and skills realistically
Attributing success to external factors or other people
Criticizing your performance
Fear you don't meet expectations
Overachieving
Sabotaging your success by downplaying your success
Self-doubt and agonizing over the smallest mistakes
Setting unrealistic goals and feeling disappointed when you fail

Effects of Impostor Phenomenon

Impostor phenomenon has mental health effects. Some effects are a lack of self-confidence, anxiety, depression, fear, frustration, and shame. Impostor phenomenon causes self-doubt and creates low self-esteem. Work and personal relationships can suffer. Impostor phenomenon restricts risk-taking, innovation, creativity, and inventiveness.

Impostor Phenomenon Prevalence

Dr. Pauline Rose Clance first described impostor phenomenon in the 1970s. The prevalence of impostor phenomenon varies widely from 9 percent to 82 percent, according to the Journal of Mental Health and Clinical Psychology. Each estimate depends on different and individual study metrics.

Who Has Impostor Phenomenon?

Impostor phenomenon is prominent in people with underrepresented identities. According to Kevin Cokley, Ph.D., professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, BIPOC people in mainly white environments wrestle with impostor feelings at high rates. As people who are historically underrepresented and discriminated against, they may be made to feel as if they haven't earned their success. Likewise, women and LGBTQ people may be made to feel as if they don't belong in historically white male establishments.

What Causes Impostor Phenomenon?

Reasons for impostor phenomenon are being raised in competitive environments. People who suffered from childhood abuse from caregivers are also at risk for imposter phenomenon. The feeling of being made to think you are "not good enough" in childhood is a primary factor for later imposter phenomenon.

Impostor phenomenon is not always about being made to feel not good enough. Many groups were excluded from the initial study about imposter phenomenon. People of color, most often women of color, and people with various income levels, genders, and professional backgrounds were excluded. Impostor phenomenon is often discriminatory biases that make people doubt themselves despite their competence and skills.

Dealing with Impostor Phenomenon

Dealing with impostor phenomenon is a gradual, emotional process that doesn't have to be perfect. Caring for yourself is for your benefit, not a competition. Some ideas for dealing with impostor phenomenon are:

Note Your Accomplishments

Make a list of your successes each month. Focus on the skills you learned with your success to reinforce the skills you use to continue your success.

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Everyone lives inside their own life. What you see on the outside of other lives is just a surface. How others experience their lives differs from how you perceive them with the surface they present. Focus on the depth of your life and how you make it meaningful for you.

Recognize Negative Self-talk

People with negative self-talk have problems feeling confident. When you doubt yourself, write a list of the characteristics you like about yourself, along with your accomplishments.

Talk to People

Afraid of how others perceive you? Talk to people you trust about your feelings. If you don't have a coworker or someone you trust at work, speak with a licensed therapist or counselor.

Confront Discrimination

To stop bias masquerading as an imposter phenomenon, businesses need to call out and eliminate discrimination in the workplace. Speak up. Advocate. Implement policies against bias. Discrimination has no place in the workplace. A diverse workforce is essential for business success.

Impostor phenomenon makes careers hard for those who experience the issue. Getting help for impostor phenomenon is not a weakness but showing confidence in yourself and your career. For more career information, join our Talent Talk Community and get the latest on opportunities and more.

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