Are you just faking it? Why successful people fear they’re frauds and what to do about it.
Dr. Phoebe Long Franco
Imposter Phenomenon
In the movie Catch Me If You Can, main character Frank impersonates a pilot, a prosecutor, and a doctor before he turns 18. Frank is the quintessential imposter who convinces people with his confidence and charm that he is as competent as his forged diplomas suggest.
In contrast to Frank, many highly trained people fear they’ve deceived others into believing they are more capable than they actually are. “Imposter phenomenon” describes the fear that one is not smart, skilled, or talented enough to deserve their title or accomplishments, despite objective evidence to the contrary.
When I heard about imposter phenomenon as a PhD student, I immediately identified with the feeling. In graduate school, I was surrounded by people I admired, who were smart, accomplished, and hard working. I wondered if I really belonged among them or had simply charmed my way into the program.
Have you ever doubted you belong among your accomplished peers? Or have you questioned whether you deserve an award or recognition? These doubts stem from the reasons we think we are successful —we are simply lucky, or we had the right connections, or we worked really hard, which tricked people into thinking we’re more talented than we really are.
The Consequences of Thinking You’re a Fraud
Worrying we’re imposters influences our motivation and behavior.
On one hand, imposter phenomenon can drive us to work harder to prove ourselves. On the other hand, we might stay in positions where tasks are easy and we can perform them perfectly, rather than going after a promotion or a challenging role. Or we might avoid speaking up or asking questions so we don’t reveal our ignorance. Imposter phenomenon can also perpetuate a cycle of fear-driven hard work that exhausts us and leads to burnout.
Healthcare professionals are particularly prone to fearing they are frauds, because the consequences of being incompetent can have life or death consequences. Up to 47% of medical students report experiencing imposter phenomenon, while 1 in 4 physicians report experiencing it. Unfortunately, higher levels of imposter feelings are associated with higher odds of burnout and suicidal ideation.
Where Does Imposter Phenomenon Come From?
While anyone can experience a fear that they don’t really belong among their successful peers, the sources and consequences of imposter phenomenon can vary by person.
Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes conducted the original imposter phenomenon research in the 70’s with highly successful women in medical, law, and academic fields.
The researchers noticed these women had received conflicting messages from their family and the broader world about their intelligence, which made the women wonder who to really believe. Some wondered if they deserved the praise they had received from family members for being intelligent. Others had received messages that they were less intelligent or talented than people close to them.
Other factors, like not having another female role model in their field, and receiving discouraging messages about their intellectual capabilities, contributed to these women’s experience of imposter phenomenon.
But the term “imposter syndrome” has been criticized for pathologizing individuals’ experiences of self-doubt that is caused by societal discrimination. If people in minority identity groups don’t feel like they belong, they shouldn’t be told to reframe their thoughts. Instead, work and academic environments should be made more inclusive and supportive.
And critics point out that there is a difference between being supported by your outside environment, and doubting your competence anyway, and doubting your competence because of the messages you receive from an unsupportive environment.
Dr. Kevin Cokley and colleagues advocate for a more precise definition of imposter phenomenon that recognizes the contribution of systemic biases for people of color. They define racialized imposter phenomenon as “an internal experience of intellectual and professional self-doubt that occurs among racially minoritized people because of racist environmental experiences.”
In this definition, imposter phenomenon is a legitimate internal experience caused by interactions with one’s external environment.
Strategies to Counter Imposter Phenomenon
So now that we know more about why we experience imposter phenomenon, what can we do about it? The solution requires individual, interpersonal, and organizational strategies. The following tools come from Cokley and colleagues’ book The Imposter Phenomenon: Psychological Research, Theory, and Interventions.
Individual/interpersonal level:
Challenge Imposter Phenomenon thoughts:
Ask for specific feedback from others you trust about your abilities.
Talk about your fears of being an imposter with others who can relate.
Keep a list of accomplishments (and celebrate them!).
Positively reframe thoughts that drive imposter phenomenon:
“Working hard is part of competence.”
“Persistent luck is not luck.”
“Support from others allows for optimal performance.”
“Knowing what you do not know is a sign of intelligence.”
Practice self-compassion:
When you notice fears of being a fraud, consider what you might say to a friend who felt the same way. Offer those same words to yourself.
Recognize the many contributions to your imposter feelings (childhood, environmental, personal predispositions) and notice that others feel similarly.
Share failures and rejections with others to normalize them.
Seek out support from supervisors and mentors, especially those with similar life experiences.
Organizational level:
Enact equitable hiring practices and actively work to increase representation of people from diverse backgrounds.
Continuously work on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives to create a supportive work environment for all people.
Cultivate an environment that promotes psychological safety where people feel safe sharing mistakes and asking questions.
Create Opportunities for Employees to Be Authentically Themselves
In her article for the New Yorker on the topic, Leslie Jamison reflects that underlying imposter phenomenon is the experience of an internal self that isn’t the same as the self other people know.
The strategies listed above for countering imposter phenomenon involve creating environments that make it possible to act authentically in our workplaces. In professional spaces, people from all backgrounds should be able to show up in the complexity of who they are as people, beyond their professional roles.
At the Center for Resiliency, we create opportunities for people to share their stories of professional mistakes and accomplishments at storytelling events and in large and small group discussions.
Our tagline is “healing people, staying human” —an explicit counter to the sentiment that healthcare professionals are superhuman. Our goal is to promote the kind of psychological safety that allows people to focus on the process of their work rather than the presentation of themselves.
You can learn more and get involved with our work at www.Center4Resiliency.com.
We’d love to hear other strategies you use at the individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels to counter imposter phenomenon at work. Share below in the comments!
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