What is Impostor Syndrome and How Does it Affect People Like Me?

What is Impostor Syndrome? How long has it been around?

Impostor Syndrome or Impostor Phenomenon s a term coined by Pauline Clance in 1978, based on her research studies of high-achieving women in college and university settings. It is characterized by people of all genders who are successful by reasonable external measures but have not internalized this success. Instead, they report that their success was gained either by accident, an oversight by others, or that they are generally a fraud, waiting to be found out. 

While it was originally researched among college women, newer research suggests that it is experienced across the board. Which makes sense - people of all genders experience specific societal expectations, and struggle with self-image.

It frequently manifests in work or education settings. People will report thoughts and feelings such as:

"I don't deserve this promotion."

"I literally don’t know what I'm doing and sooner or later they'll figure that out."

"They only let me into this school because someone else dropped out, not because I earned it."  

How does impostor syndrome affect immigrant communities?

One of our specialties is working with high-functioning anxiety, perfectionism, and impostor syndrome, particularly in bicultural, first-generation, and immigrant Americans. There is a great deal of impostor syndrome in people who are acculturating to mainstream American culture. It’s exacerbated by the tendency that these folks are often acculturating at a rate faster than their families of origin, so people often don’t have the same “back-up” and reinforcement from their families. In this way, they may feel like they are unintentionally “leaving their families behind.”

One of the side effects of balancing your family's values and expectations with your own, is that people often feel like a failure by one set of standards (their family's), despite being successful by another set of measures (mainstream culture). And their own values are caught somewhere in the middle.

When your primary support system (your family) doesn’t know how to validate your success, you can start to believe it doesn’t count. Many bicultural people feel that their families don’t understand their work, their lifestyle, or some aspect of their identity. Compliments can feel stale or superficial. Or you might just stop sharing good news altogether because the response is disappointing.

There are other effects of impostor syndrome as well. It can cause people to hold themselves back from their goals, it can cause social and relational isolation, and can exacerbate existing symptoms of anxiety or depression. There is that self-fulfilling prophecy of not believing you are worthy of advancement, so people stop offering you opportunities, thus reinforcing your feelings of inadequacy.

What are the signs that a person has impostor syndrome? What are the causes?

Some behavioral signs of impostor syndrome include:

  • procrastination

  • over-preparing such as excessive list-making

  • social withdrawal and isolation

  • over-extending boundaries and taking on too many tasks

  • ignoring bodily urges such as skipping meals or delaying breaks

Some internal signs of impostor syndrome include:

  • chronic, pervasive feelings of inadequacy

  • distorted self-image and downplaying positive or neutral traits

  • feelings of anxiety and overwhelm

  • second-guessing self and difficulty making decisions

It's important to know that these are part of a pervasive pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviors - no one habit directly means you have impostor syndrome (or any other syndrome). Everyone has situations in which they are unsure, or periods of time when they are overworking.

The causes of impostor syndrome are harder to pin down, but often people who have been invalidated repeatedly in some way develop this syndrome. Either from extended periods of stress, burnout, or being ignored, even patterns of abuse or neglect. While there is often a correlation with depression and anxiety, impostor syndrome is not an official diagnosis.

How do you go about treating impostor syndrome? What should I do if I think I have it?

We’ve written before about how to identify impostor syndrome and 5 ways to cure it.

Having a mentor, coach or therapist will give you a nonjudgmental reality check. Simply hearing a more balanced view of your strengths and areas of improvement will start to reduce your anxiety around them.

Therapy will also move your measures of success internally, toward your own values and goals, instead of focusing on external factors — like other people’s opinions, your bank account, or your professional roles.

For example, you may be focused on getting a certain job title, and feel like you’re in limbo until you get it. A therapist will help you understand what that job title really signifies to you. Maybe it’s approval from a dismissive family. Or proving to yourself that you can be successful without a partner. If you explore why those things are important to you, you might find ways that you are already proving that to yourself, with or without an arbitrary job title.

If you’re ready to get out from behind your own barriers, therapy can help you use your natural strengths to get there. Prospect Therapy is an LGBTQ+ affirming therapy practice located in Long Beach, CA. We welcome individuals and couples of all genders and orientations. Call us at (562) 704-4736 or click below to schedule an appointment.