What is Imposter Syndrome? Signs, Symptoms and Why High Achievers Experience It

Imposter Syndrome is the feeling that your success isn’t deserved, despite evidence of your achievements. People who experience it doubt their abilities, feel uncomfortable being praised, attribute success to luck or chance and worry about being exposed as a fraud. It commonly affects high achievers including students, professionals and leaders. 

Despite looking like you’re powerful and in control, do you internally think thoughts like…. “I have to be twice as good”. “They must have made a mistake picking me.” “I just got lucky.” “I can’t afford to fail.” You may be grappling with a phenomenon known as Impostor Syndrome. 

Many people who struggle with Imposter Syndrome are capable, successful and respected by others, yet privately feel as though they’re not as competent as people think they are. Despite their achievements, they worry about being “found out”. Over time, this can lead to increased anxiety and stress levels as well as the need to constantly prove oneself. Many people end up overworking and putting unnecessary pressure on themselves to feel good enough, often at the expense of their wellbeing. 

First described in 1978 by psychologists Dr Pauline Clance and Dr Suzanne Imes, Impostor Syndrome (also called Impostor Phenomenon) is a well-researched, well-documented phenomenon that occurs when successful and intelligent professionals feel they do not deserve their accomplishments and that they have faked their way to success. 

Imposters believe they are intellectual frauds who have attained career success because they were at the right place at the right time, knew someone in power, or simply were hard workers – never because they are talented or intelligent or deserved their positions.

Dr Pauline Clance

Left unchecked, Impostor Syndrome can cause fear, anxiety, stress, loss of confidence, procrastination, quitting, shying away from attention, concealing your opinions, and self-sabotage. 

What Are the First Signs of Imposter Syndrome?

One of the most common symptoms of imposter syndrome is not believing that you have earned your accomplishments. Instead of feeling successful, you are constantly worried about being “found out.” So, you live in a continuous fear of failure and that others overestimate your abilities. However, according to Dr Clance, success is never truly fulfilling because they’re always too busy trying to make sure no one finds them out.

There are a number of common examples of Impostor Syndrome. You may suffer from it if… 

• You have difficulty accepting compliments and recognition. 
• You deflect compliments and feel uncomfortable when you’re praised. 
• You feel you need to work twice as hard to prove you’re worthy, as a result, you work excessive hours and have difficulty switching off. 
• You avoid situations where you’re not 100% confident you know what you’re doing. (And asking for help feels like that naked-at-school dream.) 
• In your lack of confidence, you procrastinate until the last minute to work on assignments. 
• You attribute success to luck or good timing, ignoring evidence of competence. As a result, when you succeed, you doubt you could repeat it. 
• You have unrealistically high expectations, such that everything has to be perfect before revealing a project you have been working on. 
• You fear making mistakes and therefore worry regularly about your performance, dreading that you won’t meet people’s expectations and will be uncovered as a fraud. 
• You’re constantly questioning your abilities and experience anxiety around performance. This leads to everyday tasks feeling bigger than they are and overthinking things because you’re scared of making mistakes.

Why Do People Experience Imposter Syndrome?

The Impostor Phenomenon occurs with great frequency among successful, high-achieving people. They’ve done well in school, earned the correct degrees, received awards and praise from their colleagues and advanced rapidly through their careers. In fact, to others, these people have made it. So, the question is, “If they’ve done so well, what’s the problem?”  

There is rarely one reason why someone develops Imposter Syndrome, and for most people, it doesn’t happen overnight. Usually, doubting one’s achievements grows through a combination of things. Such as personal traits, your social, educational and workplace experiences and expectations of yourself or from others. 

Understanding self-doubt, confidence and human behaviour are valuable ways to change how you see your success. Consider these short online courses to deepen your personal development: 

• Enhancing Self-Esteem: Tools for Personal Empowerment 
• Developing a Growth Mindset 
• Understanding Burnout Through the Lens of Compassion 

Perfectionism

The drive for perfectionism can be an inherent personal trait that’s rooted in having unrealistic standards, fear of mistakes and linking self-worth with achievements. This can result in feeling like a fraud. In order to understand why you’re not currently capable of acknowledging your skills and talents, you’ll need to explore where these feelings stem from.  

Perfectionism is often a major driver of imposter feelings.

Dr Valerie Young

Academic Pressure

According to Young, feelings of low self-worth could relate to family expectations, but they could just as easily arise from studying in a competitive environment or working in certain fields – particularly creative ones.  

Many people who experience Imposter Syndrome have spent years working hard, achieving good results and earning recognition, yet they still feel like they’re not quite good enough. When you’re surrounded by smart, ambitious people, it’s easy to start measuring your value against scholarships, awards and grades or comparing your accomplishments against those of your peers. Then, instead of appreciating how far you’ve come, you end up focusing on what everyone else seems to be doing better. As a result, doing this can cause you to believe that you just got lucky and don’t deserve to be where you are. Competitiveness can be motivating, but this type of measuring up and comparing isn’t. 

Workplace Expectations

When someone transitions into a work environment, specialised field or starts a new role, they are often surrounded by talented peers, which can trigger self-doubt. The result is that rather than recognising that they’ve earned their place, someone will start to believe that they’re simply lucky to have got there. 

In workplaces where people feel they constantly have to prove themselves, doubts can become even louder. So, instead of growing into a new role, people find themselves worrying that they’re not good enough for it. Imposter Syndrome can also show up when you change careers or take on new challenges at work. However, it’s worth remembering that a promotion, moving into leadership or increased responsibility can make even the most experienced professionals feel out of their depth. So, you’re not alone in feeling a bit insecure when faced with a new situation. 

Social Comparison and Social Media

Theodore Roosevelt stated that Comparison is the thief of joy. It’s a good description of the impact of social media. Social media makes it incredibly easy to compare yourself and your everyday reality to someone else’s curated highlights reel. When we do this, what we forget is that social media updates that share academic successes, career milestones and achievements don’t show behind-the-scenes setbacks. 

When you’re constantly scrolling through other people’s success stories and accolades, you’re bound to feel like everyone else has life figured out and you’re lagging behind as you race to keep up. This can create a dangerous downward spiral in which you delve into comparing your career progress to everyone else and come up with impossible expectations of yourself. Thereby, compounding self-doubt and creating perceived failures.  

Who Is Most Likely to Experience Imposter Syndrome?

One of the problems with Imposter Syndrome is that it affects those who you’d least likely expect it to. These feelings of feeling like a fraud commonly affect students, graduates, young professionals, leaders, entrepreneurs, creatives and other high-achieving individuals. Ironically, the more successful someone becomes or the more responsibility or visibility they are given, the more likely they are to question how much they deserve or have earned it. And this makes them more vulnerable to experiencing Imposter Syndrome.  

When Does Self-Doubt Become a Problem?

Dr Young advises that success doesn’t necessarily mean happiness, but at the same time, it shouldn’t cause guilt, fear, and stress. When success doesn’t lead to feelings of confidence but rather creates fear, then self-doubt can become a habit. And not dealing with self-doubt can stop you from thriving across all areas of your life. 

Self-doubt becomes problematic when it: 

• Prevents career progression  
• Causes chronic stress  
• Leads to burnout  
• Damages relationships  
• Stops people from pursuing opportunities  
• Affects academic performance 

The greatest challenge was the imposter syndrome. I felt like maybe I don’t belong here.

Michelle Obama

Many people cope by pretending they’re fine on the outside while privately struggling with self-doubt. Wearing a mask in public is a common approach to dealing with feelings of self-doubt. But even when a mask fits well – often looking good on a person – there comes a time when it grows heavy and needs to come off. If these feelings are affecting your studies, work or wellbeing, it might be time to seek support and learn more about the psychological factors behind them. 

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome isn’t about suddenly becoming confident. It’s about gradually learning to see the real you and your achievements more truthfully. Learn how to overcome Imposter Syndrome in different scenarios with these practical strategies. 

Ready to Better Understand Yourself and Others?

Are you interested in understanding human behaviour and psychological wellbeing more deeply? If so, explore SACAP’s Applied Psychology qualifications. Learn how psychology can help you better understand yourself and others, while building practical skills that support confidence, resilience and wellbeing in everyday life. You can also strengthen your personal and professional development through SACAP Global’s short courses and workshops. Contact an Admissions Officer for more information or Apply Online today.