“I’m not good enough for this job”, “I don’t deserve my job title”, “I’m sure I’ll mess up at some point and everyone will realize I’m not good enough”. Have you ever said things like that to yourself? If you have, keep reading because you may be suffering from impostor syndrome.
Impostor syndrome is defined as the intense feeling of personal incompetence, despite their objective successes (Clance, 1985). The person suffering from this syndrome experiences intense fear and anxiety about the possibility of failure and being exposed as a fraud. Therefore, they constantly strive to avoid a possible failure that could reveal their lack of ability and, therefore, be known as an “impostor”.
But why do “impostors” perceive themselves this way? Because their low self-esteem and attributional style (what I think that is the cause of something that has happened) leads them to externalize their successes, to think that they are due to external causes that have nothing to do with their personal ability. For example, they tend to think that their successes are due to luck, to an error in other’s perception (“they think this went well because I am good at what I do, but they are wrong”), to their social skills or personality (“he values me more because he likes me, not because of the quality of what I do”) or to circumstances (“I am sure I was recruited because no one else applied for this position”).
In general, their standards of competence are so high that it is impossible to meet them, and this frustrate them. In addition, they find it very difficult to accept compliments about their ability because they do not believe them to be true and always try to respond to these comments with an explanation unrelated to their own abilities.
Among the main effects of impostor syndrome are an increase in symptoms of anxiety, depression, frustration, guilt, low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, etc. It can also cause problems at work or interpersonal level, as they may lose job opportunities for their fear of not being up to the task or people around them may get tired of listening to their constant insecurities.
What happens to “impostors”?
Normally, when the “impostor” must perform a task, usually experiences emotional reactions of anxiety, worry, doubts…These emotional reactions manifest themselves in the form of:
Negative automatic thoughts. For example:
- “I am a fraud, and they will find out”.
- “They pay me more than they should, my job is not worth that much”.
- “Surely someone else could do this much better”.
Physical sensations. For example:
- Palpitations, chest tightness, stomach pain, muscle tension, etc.
Behaviors (he/she will choose one or the other):
- Overpreparation: he/she will spend excessive time and effort, not proportional to the demands of the task, to prepare for it, to be sure that will not make any mistake.
- Procrastination: the mere thought of preparing for the task will generate such a level of discomfort that he/she will avoid facing it and will postpone the activity.
These emotional reactions will generate some consequences in the person. At short term, both options will produce a relief of the discomfort: if he/she overprepares, will be calmer because will believe that there is less probability of making a mistake, and if he/she postpones, will avoid facing that high level of discomfort, at least at that moment. At long term, neither of these behaviours will end up into positive consequences. If he/she succeeds, will attribute it to his/her effort if overprepared (“I only did well because I spent days doing what someone else could accomplish in a few hours”) or to luck if procrastinates (“I actually advanced on the company because I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time”) and therefore dismiss his/her own ability, even if others tell otherwise. If he/she fails, will attribute it to the lack of ability, thus confirming his/her initial thoughts and feeding those feelings of incompetence and insecurity (“It was clear that I was not capable of doing it well enough”). Then, next time he/she will feel more anxious prior to start a new task and, to avoid this anxiety, will either procrastinate or believe that must overprepare, thus entering in a vicious circle that only increase the discomfort progressively.
Do you feel identified with what you just read and notice that it is harming you on a personal, work, or social level? If so, you can contact our team so that we can assess what is happening to you and teach you how to better manage your emotions to stop feeling like an impostor and assess your ability in an objective way.
References:
CLANCE, P. R. (1985). The impostor phenomenon: Overcoming the fear that haunts your success. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.
Aina Fiol Veny
Psychologist Col. Nº B-02615