He Impersonator syndrome Is based on the inability to internalize the achievements. These kinds of situations are very common and about 70% of people have ever experienced it.
In fact, this Kind of feelings Play an adaptive role and in many cases contribute positive things to the people who suffer.
However, sometimes the feelings of not being good enough can be made chronic with negative repercussions on the condition and functionality of the individual. This is common in people who have Low self-esteem .
It is in these cases when we speak of the impostor syndrome, that is, a personal inability to accept success and success.
What are the characteristics of this syndrome, what motivates its appearance or what should be done when suffering, are some of the questions that appear easily when experiencing feelings of this type.
Next we will expose the characteristics of the impostor syndrome in order to answer these questions.
Characteristics of the impostor syndrome
The impostor syndrome, also known as the phenomenon of the impostor or fraud syndrome, is a psychological phenomenon in which the person is unable to accept their achievements.
This term was coined by the psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, after objectifying this type of alterations in different people.
People with this syndrome remain convinced that they are a fraud, do not deserve the success they have achieved and are inferior to the rest.
In fact, despite coming into contact with external evidence that shows his competence and good skills, the individual persists firmly convinced that he has achieved nothing.
Evidence of success or personal worth is rejected and interpreted as pure luck or chance.
Likewise, achievements are interpreted as a personal ability to make others believe in being more intelligent and competent than it really is.
Is it frequent?
The thoughts of not being good enough or having sensations that one really has little knowledge or does not know everything you think you know is a relatively normal phenomenon.
In fact, you may have once thought that what you have achieved so far is not so much, that you have not done any really important merit or that other people are better or have achieved more achievements than you.
And is that this type of feelings and feelings are very common among people and it is estimated that approximately two-thirds of the population experiences it at some point in their life.
However, the imposter syndrome does not refer to the experimentation of these simple sensations of passing form.
In the impostor syndrome the beliefs of not being prepared, being unable to achieve achievement and being inferior to others become much more noticeable and chronicled in the thought of the person.
In this way, the individual begins to interpret his life in a different way permanently, becoming unable to attribute his own achievements.
It is true that you can experience different degrees of this syndrome. However, in any case, the impostor syndrome is an alteration of normal and healthy psychological functioning.
The Is it a mental illness?
The impostor syndrome is an alteration of psychological functioning in which thoughts and emotions are altered.
Likewise, the sensations of being unable to achieve positive things, thinking that what has been achieved throughout life has no value or believing to be inferior to other people can greatly affect the behavior of the individual.
However, the impostor syndrome is not an officially recognized mental illness and is not among the conditions described in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).
This fact is fundamentally due to the insufficient current scientific evidence on the syndrome.
In spite of the fact that many of the characteristics, etiological factors or therapeutic interventions have been described, scientific research on the impostor syndrome is insufficient to classify it as a disease.
This obviously does not mean that the imposter syndrome does not exist or is an invalid concept.
In fact, this phenomenon is described in numerous books and articles by psychologists and educators from different regions of the world.
Who suffers from the imposter syndrome?
The impostor syndrome can appear in any person and at any vital moment. However, there are individuals who may present a greater risk to develop this peculiar phenomenon.
In the first place, the area in which the impostor syndrome usually appears most prevalent is the workplace.
In fact, in most people the typical thoughts and feelings of the syndrome appear when they work or take stock of their professional career or their career path.
The comparison with the rest of the workers, the contrasting of multiple concepts that are unknown or the labor competition are aspects that can motivate the appearance of typical feelings of the impostor syndrome.
Paradoxically, this syndrome often appears very often among people who have been very successful in different areas, especially in the workplace, and have achieved a large number of achievements throughout their lives.
Specifically, the imposter syndrome is particularly common among successful women in their careers. For this reason, the majority of studies on this phenomenon have been performed in female populations, so the prevalence of the imposter syndrome in men is unknown.
What causes the syndrome?
Whether in the workplace or elsewhere, feelings of insecurity pertaining to the imposter syndrome can significantly affect the behavior of the individual.
Five patterns of behavior have been described that are considered especially common when people are in situations that create insecurity. These are.
1- Working in excess
When we believe that what we do has no value or that we have never achieved anything really valuable we strive much more than normal.
This overexertion can be accompanied by high Feelings of anxiety Interpreting that no matter how much you do, you will never know enough or you will never be good enough.
People who suffer from the impostor syndrome often over-prepare things, and when they achieve their goal, they consider that success is due solely to how hard they work and not to their own merits or merits.
2- Hide thoughts
This is probably the most notorious effect of insecurity, since when a person does not believe in what he does he is often reluctant to share it with others.
People with the impostor syndrome tend not to share their ideas and thoughts for fear that the rest will discover how little they know or how incompetent they are.
3 - Impress
The more insecure we are, the more we need approval from others to self-convince us that what we do or have done is appropriate or valuable.
In the impostor syndrome these aspects are massified and the individual needs constant approval by others.
In fact, the individual never satisfies his need for approval because for many compliments he receives will never be enough to accept and share.
Even when the stimuli that approve a competition or a personal achievement are not a personal opinion but an irrefutable proof or evidence, the person who suffers from the impostor syndrome will be unable to interpret it as such.
4 - Leave everything to the last moment
Another common phenomenon that happens when we do not have self-confidence is to look for external excuses.
Thus, if you do not strive all that you can and do not prepare well in advance it is easier to justify your failures.
In these cases, improperly performing an activity or not achieving an expected accomplishment, can be justified through lack of effort and the fault will not completely fall into personal competencies.
5- Do not finish things
Lack of confidence also motivates you never to have enough confidence to finish a thing.
Whatever the activity, the individual who does not trust what he does will not possess enough inputs to dictate that the task is already properly completed.
This situation is very prevalent among individuals who suffer from the impostor syndrome, since they often have great difficulty in determining that a task is well performed, even if others say so.
Causes
At present, the data that are possessed on the syndrome of the impostor are very scarce, reason why those that we will comment next are not to be interpreted as unique and irrefutable.
In fact, there are many factors - such as genetic Personality patterns - which have not been studied and associated with the impostor syndrome, so in this article we can not comment.
However, this does not mean that their presence in the development of the syndrome is discarded or even that they can play important roles.
The causes that have been most associated with the impostor syndrome to date are environmental factors and cognitive aspects.
In view of the personal profile shared by many individuals who suffer from the impostor syndrome, the high impact of environmental factors on their genesis becomes more evident.
The population at risk for this syndrome that we have discussed above are women, young and with high achievements and professional goals.
Thus, the history of learning and experiences lived by the subject can play an important role.
In this sense, people who have experienced important criticism throughout their childhood and youth, and have lived situations in which significant figures as parents or teachers have lost their skills, character or behavior, may be more likely to present this syndrome .
As far as the cognitive aspects are concerned, it is maintained that the way in which the person perceives and assimilates reality can be an important factor.
Thus, people with impostor syndrome would have a greater tendency to perform external attributions of successes and failures.
Treatment
Impostor syndrome is a problem that can seriously affect To wellbeing And the day to day of the person but fortunately can be treated properly.
To do this it is advisable to go to a psychologist, who will be responsible for charting a path that can overcome the thoughts that create discomfort and generate alternative cognitions that are more adapted to reality and that are more beneficial to the individual.
The psychological therapy that seems to be most effective for this type of problem is the Cognitive therapy , That is, that which is based on identifying, analyzing and reconstructing the thoughts of the person.
In addition to performing psychotherapy, there are also a number of tips that may be useful to mitigate the intensity of the syndrome. These are.
- Learn about the topic: documenting and acquiring information about the syndrome is the first step to be taken.
- Talk about it: sharing your feelings, thoughts and emotions with the people you trust is highly beneficial, helps you to download emotionally and allows you to acquire other points of view.
- Do not refuse or ignore compliments or congratulations.
- Accept that you do not have to know all the answers: you have to be aware that you have the same right as any other person to make mistakes and to make mistakes.
References
- Beard, J. (1990). Personality correlates of the impostor phenomenon: An exploration of gender differences in critical needs. Unpublished masters' thesis, Georgia State University, Atlanta.
- Bussotti, C. (1990). The impostor phenomenon: Family roles and environment. (Doctoral dissertation, Georgia State University, 1990). Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 4041B.
- Deaux, D. Sex and the attribution process. In J.H. Harvey, W.J. Ickes & R.F. Kidd (Eds.). New directions in attribution research. Vol. 1. New York: Halsted Press Division, Wiley. 1976. pp. 335-352.
- Harvey, J.C. (1981). The impostor phenomenon and achievement: A failure to internalize success. (Doctoral dissertation, Temple University, 1981). Dissertation Abstracts International, 42, 4969B.
- Langpord, J. (1990). The need to look smart: The impostor phenomenon and motivations for learning. (Doctoral dissertation, Georgia State University, 1990). Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 3604B.
- Nicholls, J.G. Causal attributions and other achievement-related cognitions: Effects of task outcome, attainment value and sex. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1975, 31, 379-389.
- Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Ament Imes (1978).The Impostor Phenomenon Among High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention.