Start Date
12-12-2018 11:55 AM
Description
Imposter Syndrome, or the imposter phenomenon, recently permeated general public speech, specifically in the context of professional and academic life. People with imposter syndrome, imposters, are high achieving individuals who feel like intellectual frauds and who do not believe they deserve success. Although the general public adopts the term imposter syndrome into popular language, there is nearly “no empirical evidence on the imposter phenomenon or its effects” (Cozzarelli & Major, 1990). Research on imposter syndrome has tested the validity of the syndrome, looking at scales that test the phenomenon and their relation to scales that test low self esteem and anxiety. Results of such studies point to imposter syndrome being so convoluted with ideas of low self esteem and anxiety that it becomes difficult to separate it as its own phenomenon. This investigation looks into why the imposter phenomenon has made its way into popular language when there exists no empirical evidence to differentiate it from low self esteem or anxiety. Participants will be randomly assigned short biographies of high achieving adults who either have imposter syndrome, low self esteem, or anxiety. Participants will answer a series of questions, rating the high achieving adults, thus verifying that imposter syndrome is a less stigmatized and more attractive term than low self esteem or anxiety.
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Imposter Syndrome: The Convoluted Phenomenon and its Popularity in the Workplace
Imposter Syndrome, or the imposter phenomenon, recently permeated general public speech, specifically in the context of professional and academic life. People with imposter syndrome, imposters, are high achieving individuals who feel like intellectual frauds and who do not believe they deserve success. Although the general public adopts the term imposter syndrome into popular language, there is nearly “no empirical evidence on the imposter phenomenon or its effects” (Cozzarelli & Major, 1990). Research on imposter syndrome has tested the validity of the syndrome, looking at scales that test the phenomenon and their relation to scales that test low self esteem and anxiety. Results of such studies point to imposter syndrome being so convoluted with ideas of low self esteem and anxiety that it becomes difficult to separate it as its own phenomenon. This investigation looks into why the imposter phenomenon has made its way into popular language when there exists no empirical evidence to differentiate it from low self esteem or anxiety. Participants will be randomly assigned short biographies of high achieving adults who either have imposter syndrome, low self esteem, or anxiety. Participants will answer a series of questions, rating the high achieving adults, thus verifying that imposter syndrome is a less stigmatized and more attractive term than low self esteem or anxiety.
