Imposter Syndrome: Types, Causes, Coping

“I often feel that whatever things I have achieved till now were not because I worked for them or put effort into them. My peers and professors think I am an intellectual, smart and hard-working person because my results say so but they don’t know that I have not put any effort into my achievements and these results are just pure chance or maybe I just have good luck. And it won’t be long before the reality of my results and what a fraud I am will be disclosed to everyone.” 

If the above narrative feels familiar and relatable to you, then congratulations, you have found your read because trust me, you are not alone. Many people, especially those with great achievements and higher positions, feel undeserving of the status they have achieved and feel like a fake or a con. They feel their achievements are just a pretentious attempt to feel better than others and fear that this reality of theirs will one day come out in the open. There exists a word for this feeling- Imposter Syndrome. 

What is Imposter Syndrome? 

Imposter syndrome is a behavioural health phenomenon described as self-doubts of intellect, skills or accomplishments among high-achieving individuals (Huecker, Shreffier, Mckeny & Davis, 2023) despite factual evidence of their belief. Such individuals are unable to attribute the cause of their success to personal factors like hard work and persistence and keep questioning if they are even deserving and as a result experience constant feelings of anxiety, depression, self-doubt and dread that they would one day be exposed as a fraud. 

Commonly used terms for this include- Imposter phenomenon, fraud syndrome, impostorism and perceived fraudulence. Though not a formal diagnosis, the syndrome was for the first time described in 1978 by Suzanne Imes and Pauline Rose Clance as an observation among successful women and marginalized groups. They observed that this belief was most prevalent in high-achieving individuals, those in the field of academics and healthcare. Clance identified six characteristics that may or may not be present depending upon the type of imposter syndrome, these include- 

Imposter Cycle

It is a common characteristic of the syndrome that occurs when a person is faced with a task, duty, or obstacle. Those with the syndrome respond to such situations in two ways- over-preparation or procrastination. Those who over-prepare feel they need to put in more effort than others to achieve a task because they are not as good as people think them to be and fear their fraudulence might come to light, on the other hand, those who procrastinate, yet achieve better than others feel like a fraud that they achieved great results even after hurried last-minute preparation and fear this truth might be exposed to others. 

Responders in both categories feel like a fraud and fear being exposed. This leads to a range of pathological symptoms of anxiety, depression, isolation and even self-sabotaging behaviour. Though people do feel a sense of accomplishment upon the completion of the task it is a brief, short feeling, struggle with the internalization of success and the symptoms lead to repetition of this cycle again and again. 

Perfectionism

It is a belief that one needs to be the best at the task. People with imposter syndrome may self-impose practically unattainable tasks and goals. These high standards and expectations fuel their need to be the best by keeping them in a positive reinforcement loop. They do not accept mistakes by themselves or even others. For example, if a person feels that the assignment given to them by their teacher needs to be perfect and upon submission and correction of the assignment, they receive a negative remark, this may fuel their fire to be the best in the next task or if this their work was praised in the class, they may associate their worth with their perfectionism. 

This can lead to a phenomenon called work martyrdom, where a person sacrifices their self-interests for the maintenance of a false image, is unable to accept failure and perceives mistakes as a lack of ability to do a task, may be highly self-critical and may not even take criticisms or even suggestions from others that well. 

Super Heroism

This characteristic is similar to perfectionism where the imposter feels the need to be the ‘best’ but instead of self-imposition of unattainable standards, superheroism manifests as a tendency and need to over-prepare for a task to seem competent or more than competent. This need to over-prepare comes from an underlying fear of being exposed as a con and lack of belief in one’s knowledge and can lead to additional workload, leading to detrimental effects on mental health.

Denial of competence and capability

People with imposter syndrome tend to question their intelligence, skills, talents and experience a lot and feel that what they have is not enough. This leads to thinking that the success they have achieved is due to factors like chance, luck or the influence of other people and external factors and do not feel capable. For example, if a person does not feel that their knowledge is up to the mark for a field may pursue several degrees to feel confident. 

Atychiphobia (fear of failure)

This is a common feeling for those with imposter syndrome. They fear that not knowing enough or doing well enough as their equivalent others can land them in situations which can be humiliating and these situations will expose their reality leading to judgment and being disclosed as fraud. 

Achievemephobia (fear of success)

Well, people with imposter syndrome fear being successful because it can lead to higher expectations from self and others and can lead to an increase in workload because now there is a greater need to prove that one is not a fraud. Such people may also internalize failures, which means that they may feel that mistakes in a task or failure to complete a task are due to personal factors like lack of intelligence, knowledge or laziness. 

Types of Imposters 

Based on the above-mentioned factors, there have been identified five types of imposter syndromes- 

• Perfectionist: Perfectionists set high, unattainable standards for themselves, they are in a constant pursuit of flawlessness. They struggle with low self-esteem and hence tend to set high standards for themselves. Perfectionists often struggle with excessive self-criticism, and burnout, tend to micromanage everything, struggle with taking help or delegating tasks, prioritization, obsess over little details and are unwilling to accept mistakes and fear failure and being proven a fraud.
• Superhuman: Superhuman is the conceptualization of superheroism. People who are this type of imposter are high achievers who tend to put extreme pressure on themselves. They are fueled by a lack of trust in their knowledge, intelligence or quality of work and hence tend to overwork or over-prepared for they do not want to be proven as a fraud and feel they need to work harder than others to match their level of accomplishment. Such people are also called workaholics. Such people feel stressed when they don’t have any tasks and feel guilty for taking breaks or engaging in leisure activities. 
• The Natural Genius: Such people feel that success comes easily to them because of some natural talent or intelligence they possess. Such people try to compensate for their perceived lack of effort in being successful and put extra pressure on themselves. Such people have a common belief that success is a result of one’s inherent ability and not hard work. They may either be scared of trying new things or may put themselves in work that does not interest them but forces them to excel. 
• The Soloist: Such people hold a strong belief that to achieve success, they need to work alone and must do everything by themselves. This type is characterized by hyper-independence and extreme feelings of self-reliance. Such individuals find it difficult to trust others to help them out and even hesitate to ask for help and in groups are unable to delegate tasks. 
• The Expert: This is similar to the characteristic of a denial of competence and capability. Such individuals feel and put pressure on themselves to know everything about their chosen field. It is very common in people with advanced academic degrees like doctors, lawyers or engineers, as they spend years attaining their degrees and feel they should know everything about it. 

Impact of Imposter Syndrome 

Studies done on the impact of imposter syndrome are scarce but from the studies done on neuro-bio-psychological and even social, interpersonal and intrapersonal impacts of psychopathological symptoms like anxiety and depression experienced by those with imposter syndrome, impacts of imposter syndrome can be ruled out.

PsychoNeuro-biological Impact

Imposter syndrome is associated with feelings of fear, anxiety and depression. People with the syndrome can have imbalanced levels of stress hormones like norepinephrine, which serves the purpose of activation and arousal of the autonomic nervous system and the Hypothalamic-pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and cortisol which plays a role in fight or flight stress response. 

Decreased levels of stress hormones result in a lack of arousal and further lead to behavioural problems like procrastination, inability to plan and depression, on the other hand, elevated levels result in hyper-arousal leading to a constant feeling of dread and anxiety and result in behavioural tendencies of the superhuman.

Prolonged imbalance of stress response can even lead to the manifestation of physical ailments and lifestyle disorders. Imbalances in perceived effort-reward of a task can have an impact on the nervous system too. When tasks, duties and obligations are perceived to be much more stressful than the reward received or the inability to feel the reward, it can lead to feeling pessimistic and induce a full-fledged stress response. 

On the other hand, imbalanced levels of stress hormones too can imbalance the effort-reward system. Decreased stress levels lead to hypo-arousal and therefore inactivation or optimal activation of the reward system of the brain leading to lack of motivation and increased levels of stress hormones can suppress the reward centre and activate the fear centre, the amygdala, leading to the inability to feel rewarded, discomfort, fear and anxiety. 

Impact on Relationships

When feelings of inadequacy leech into our relationships with family, friends or intimate partners, it can make us doubt ourselves and downplay our needs, it can lead to problems in communication in the anticipation that they may get judged or even rejected. This creates a gap between our loved ones and us and an inability to be vulnerable to them. People with imposter syndrome experience chronic feelings of worthlessness and hence may even struggle to receive compliments from their partners. Constant feelings of doubt about whether one is even deserving of the relationship they are in, their intentions, needs and wants can even lead to problems with being assertive and placing boundaries in relationships. 

People with imposter syndrome feel like they are constantly wearing a mask in their relationships, putting up with a version of themselves that they feel is what the other person expects from them. This comes from the internal feeling of being exposed as a fraud and fear that their true self won’t be accepted. This leads to a lack of authentic expression in relationships. Characteristics like perfectionism can also impact relationships. People with imposter syndrome can set high expectations and standards for their relationships and partners, not allowing them the space to make mistakes leading to disappointments, dissatisfaction and arguments in relationships. 

Impact on Relationships with Self

Imposter syndrome can negatively impact one’s relationship with themselves. It can lead to being highly critical of oneself, thereby directly impacting one’s self-esteem. They may also give up on indulging in hobbies or activities that pleased them, leading to disconnection from self. The focus of people with imposter syndrome becomes more outward, for example on fear of judgment from others or being exposed. The fear becomes extrinsic motivation to perform and they lose sight of activities that intrinsically motivated them to indulge in them. Hence, there is a loss of one’s likes, dislikes and sense of purpose in life. 

Impact on social functioning

People with imposter syndrome may avoid social situations and gatherings, professional conferences or networking events for fear of being exposed, this can lead to social isolation and missed opportunities for personal and professional growth. 

They may avoid or face difficulty building new relationships because they believe that others are more competent than them, which induces feelings of inadequacy. For the perceived lack of ability, they may try to overcompensate in terms of the amount and duration of work leading to burnout and even strenuous relations with family and colleagues. People with imposter syndrome face difficulties with teamwork, cohesion and collaboration in some cases lead to unwarranted competition with team members to prove their worth, disrupting harmony. 

Causes of Imposter Syndrome 

While imposter syndrome can alter our physiology and throw our nervous system into a state of chemical imbalance, which is maintained by and maintains the psychopathological symptoms we experience, the reasons for the development of this syndrome are mostly social. 

Childhood Experiences

Negative childhood experiences, family dynamics and parenting styles opted by parents are at the root of the development of imposter syndrome. Children who do not receive consistent praise and acknowledgement from their caregivers instil feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness which can later manifest as overcompensation for their perceived lack of ability in adulthood 

On the other hand, children who are criticized a lot or compared by parents to others their age can too manifest in feeling worthless and inadequate which leads such children to constantly prove their worth to their parents and then other figures in authority like teachers and bosses. Such children grow up to be perfectionists and face tremendous anxiety about failure or criticism. 

If being a deserving individual was generally tied to punishment, it can make the child feel they are not a generally deserving individual. For example, to discipline, parents may take away affection towards their children and give them cold treatment upon small mistakes or when the child’s behaviour does not meet their expectations. 

Family labels and sibling comparisons too can lead to feeling like an imposter. The initial socialization a child receives is through the family which helps a child build self-concept. When families use labels like “smart one”, and “sensitive one”, this can lead to internalization of the traits and constantly proving that title. 

Cultural Expectations

Cultural expectations, rules, and stereotypes exacerbate imposter syndrome in women, marginalized sections of society and those who are considered low socially and culturally due to their socio-economic status or ethnicity. Gender stereotypes and expectations lead to women downplaying their accomplishments and being expected to be unassertive. This can lead to women feeling worthless of achievements in general and overcompensating for their perceived lack of ability due to their gender by being overworked leading to burnout. Those who are considered inferior due to their socio-economic and ethnicity feel like outsiders in professional and academic setups and hence try to overcompensate for this perceived lack and feel worthless and “they are not enough” or “their efforts are not enough” 

Social media and Networking Platforms

social media platforms can both cause and even amplify comparison, which can further exacerbate imposter syndrome. Social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn can provide information about others like their achievements, the number of likes they are getting, their relationships and life changes. These platforms provide an immediate window into the lives of other people, which are generally “perfect portrayals” of their lives. This can cause comparison which amplifies worthlessness and inadequacy by reconfirmation of beliefs that other people are doing much better than us.

Coping with Imposter Syndrome 

Dealing with imposter syndrome can be a challenging task. Coping with imposter syndrome requires challenging negative self-thoughts and being mindful of when negative thoughts about ourselves are triggered and making us act in self-sabotaging ways. One can take the help of professional counselling and even inculcate certain behaviours that can help deal with imposter syndrome.

Separating Feelings from Facts

The first step to dealing with imposter syndrome is to separate one’s feelings of anxiety, inadequacy and worthlessness arising from being exposed, comparison and that other people are more competent. Taking note of your achievements or maintaining a small diary of all the things one is good at ranging from “my academic, career and professional excellence to how I make others feel important or deal with them” can be a great tool going over this can make one acknowledge their strengths, one can even go over this on days their negative thought patterns are triggered and can even realize how unique and good they are. 

Challenging negative beliefs by self or the help of others

Understanding that imposter syndrome arises from the repetition of negative self-beliefs and that how one feels about oneself is not a fact or absolute truth about oneself. Constantly challenging negative beliefs by finding evidence for the way one feels about oneself and putting alternate thoughts in place can be helpful. Doing this on your own can be a task, hence confiding in a loved one who can show you life on your low days by reinforcing alternate thought patterns and counting evidence for your feelings can be helpful too. 

Limit social media Usage

Limiting social media usage can be beneficial too. Taking breaks from sites like Instagram by deactivating it or controlling use to just a few hours a day will limit exposure to content that induces comparison with others and will result in a reduction of frequency of being triggered by our negative thought patterns that are elicited by the content we consume. 

Defining Success

people with imposter syndrome think of success in terms of the all-or-none principle. They feel that they should perfectly deal with all tasks and be successful all the time and leave no room for failure. Understanding that failure or mistakes are inevitable and practising self-compassion when a mistake is made as well as clearly defining goals and success can be beneficial in dealing with imposter syndrome.

Learning how to self-soothe

Learning techniques like breathing, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, somatic movements and meditation can help deal with physical symptoms of discomfort and anxiety. An exercise regime can increase the levels of happy hormones like dopamine and serotonin which can help fight back and reduce the symptoms of the overactive stress response. The emotional freedom technique combines tapping certain pressure points with using affirmations can be a helpful tool in reframing negative beliefs and retraining the brain to calm down in situations that generally activate the stress response. 

Take Away

Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon marked by feelings of inadequacy, worthlessness, anxiety and fear of feeling like a fraud. It is characterized by a tendency to feel that one’s achievements do not account for anything and were events that just happened by chance or luck and not personal effort and dedication. It leads to undermining one’s success, neglecting one’s achievements and feeling others are more competent than them even when evidence suggests otherwise. 

The syndrome was for the first time described in 1978 by Suzanne Imes and Pauline Rose Clance as an observation among successful women and marginalized groups. They described six characteristics imposters possess- imposter cycle, perfectionism, superheroism, Achievemephobia (fear of success), Atychiphobia (fear of failure) and Denial of competence and capability. Based on this, five types of imposter syndromes were ruled out The perfectionist, the natural genius, the superhuman, the soloist and the expert. 

Imposter syndrome can greatly affect one’s interpersonal relationships, ability to know oneself, one career, and ability to function in social setups and groups and may alter their stress response as well. Though the symptoms may be physical, the reason for development is social and experiential. Adverse childhood experiences like neglect and extreme discipline, gender role expectations, stereotypes and prejudices for people belonging to certain social sections and ethnicities and social media can both induce and exacerbate it. 

FAQs

Q. Are there any gender differences in the experience of imposter syndrome?

A. Certainly! Research has shown that imposter syndrome is more common in women than in men. This is majorly due to society’s expectations of women to cooperate, be unassertive and conditioned to undermine their achievements. When women land in work setups, they may be intrinsically forced to work much

harder to prove their worth. The feelings of inadequacy are further exacerbated by highly patriarchal work and home environments, less pay for an equal job role, exploitation and changes in personal life like getting married or having children. A biological aspect was also researched about this which showed how self and social behaviour is guided by sex hormones, which in turn plays a role in the genesis of imposter syndrome. The female sex hormone estrogen has been associated with cooperation and agreeableness, whereas testosterone has been associated with hierarchy, social dominance and competition. Hence, achievement-oriented behaviour comes more naturally to men than women. 

Q. Do people identifying with the LGBTQIA+ community experience imposter syndrome? 

A. Even after increasing awareness and acceptance of the community, the person questioning their gender identity and sexual orientation is still likely to have self-doubt and anxiety about coming as a con. Coming out to their loved one can be filled with fear of being rejected, there may be self-doubt regarding their own identity and may even fear using labels. Questions like “Do I like people of the same or both sexes?” or “Am I gay or bisexual enough to label myself as one?” “what if I try to explore my identity and I don’t like it? What will people think of me then?”. This can also induce dating anxiety. 

Q. Are there any benefits to experiencing imposter syndrome?

A. Well, till now we have discussed imposter syndrome in a negative light but there are some benefits of having it too. People with imposter syndrome may experience more drive and motivation, be open to new strategies and experiences, continuously push themselves out of their comfort zones, explore more possibilities, be more open-minded and curious, increase awareness and attention to detail, be high achievers and experience more professional growth. This can though come at a personal cost of anxiety and stress but inculcating self-compassion and coping strategies can be helpful.