Are you a victim of impostorism?

If you tend to downplay your achievements or are plagued by irrational self-doubts, read on to dispel your fears.

Illustration: Satheesh Vellinezhi

Do you feel like a fake? Do you feel that you don’t quite belong? Despite winning accolades and laurels, do you feel that your ‘success’ is undeserved? That you just got lucky, and, sooner or later, you will be found out? If you feel that your stellar accomplishments are not reflective of your true self, then you may be inhabiting the discomfiting space of an impostor. Coined by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Immes, the term “impostor phenomenon” refers to high-achievers who dismiss their successes as flukes and are beset with a nagging fear that they are frauds. While it is not classified as a psychological disorder, the experience can create considerable angst and doubt in an individual.

In their pioneering study, Clance and Immes encountered high-achieving women who despite shining scholastically were plagued by self-doubt regarding their intellectual abilities. In addition to not having “an internal sense of success,” the women believe that they have fooled people into thinking they are smart. By attributing their achievements to luck or mistakes, they dismiss external indicators of their intellectual potential.

While the original study found that the phenomenon was limited to women, subsequent research has revealed that men, too, can fall prey to ‘impostorism’. A research review by Jaruwan Sakulku and James Alexander indicated that this feeling is far more prevalent than we think. Besides affecting both genders, Impostorism has been found among people in different occupations, from college students to academics to marketing managers to physician assistants. Further, the feeling is not unique to elite-achievers. According to Sakulku and Alexander, it can be felt by anyone if they “fail to internalise their success.”

Given that most people who experience it keep quiet about their persistent worries, we often don’t know who among us is plagued by self-doubt, and are often taken aback when successful people reveal their vulnerabilities. In an online article in

BBC News Magazine , journalist Oliver Burkeman quotes acclaimed novelist Maya Angelou, “I have written 11 books, but each time I think ‘Uh-oh, they’re going to find out now.’” In the same article, Burkeman also makes the valid point that this phenomenon is probably exacerbated by social media where people feel pressured to project only positive images of themselves online. Thus, when we see ever-smiling pictures of others online, we mistakenly conclude that only we experience the darker sides of life. As a result, our sense of alienation and incompetence only gets more acute.

An article published online by the Caltech Counseling Centre identifies three aspects to the impostor syndrome. The first involves feeling like a fraud or a fake. The person usually harbours thoughts such as, “People think that I am smarter than I really am.” Moreover, the person feels that someday he or she will be “found out” for who he or she really is. The other aspect involves attributing your successes to chance factors as opposed to internal traits. People who experience Impostorism also tend to downplay their achievements.

Overcoming negativity

In her book

Presence , Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Amy Cuddy, who has first-hand experience of impostor fears, says that around 60 per cent of HBS students experience it. To most outsiders, MBA students exemplify confidence, grit and success. Yet, as Cuddy writes, the “cruel irony” is that “achievements don’t stamp out impostor fears,” but can actually exacerbate them.

While many people may experience Impostor syndrome to varying degrees at various points in their lives, the crucial point is that we need not succumb to our feelings of inadequacy. In an article in Harvard Business Review , executive coach and writer Gill Corkindale provides strategies for mitigating the pernicious effects of self-doubt. Foremost, we need to enhance our self-awareness and recognise these thoughts and feelings when they creep up inside us. Next, we need to talk back to these negative thoughts. Statements such as, “It is okay if I don’t know everything,” or “Everyone makes mistakes at times,” can keep the dark forces from blackening our minds. Sharing our feelings with others who are supportive may help us see the irrationality underlining our thoughts. In addition, as we speak up, others may open up about their insecurities as well, which, in turn, may make us feel less alone.

When negative thoughts overwhelm us, Corkindale urges us to view them in context and not to generalise. “I was unable to answer the question during the lecture but that doesn’t mean that I am always tongue-tied by challenging questions.” We must also have the humility to view our mistakes as opportunities to learn and correct ourselves. Instead of berating ourselves for making the mistake in the first place, we need to see failure as just another stepping stone to success. Finally, it might help to mentally imagine being successful at whatever you dread.

When Cuddy was a doctoral student at Princeton, she was so overwhelmed by Impostorism that she almost quit her programme for fear of giving a public talk.

However, her advisor would have none of it and candidly told her to keep persisting “even if you have to fake it.” While it took Cuddy several more years to get rid of her irrational fears, she finally had her eureka moment when she did not feel like a fake anymore.

The author is director, PRAYATNA. Email: arunasankara@gmail.com