Imposter syndrome is the conviction that you have not earned your success and that someone will soon find you out. Psychology Today describes people who believe they are less able than others think, despite being well regarded. It is common. Around 70% of adults may feel it at least once in their lives, according to research the magazine cites.
It is also not an illness. Psychology Today notes it is not an official psychiatric diagnosis and does not appear in the DSM, so nobody can be diagnosed with it.
Where the name came from
The idea dates to 1978. Psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes described what they called the imposter phenomenon, studying high-achieving women. Some researchers still prefer “phenomenon”, because it sounds less clinical than “syndrome”.
Suzanne Feigofsky, an electrophysiologist at Iowa Heart Center, wrote about her own case in a 2022 journal essay. A college peer told her she was not smart enough for a medical honours programme. She got in, trained in electrophysiology and spoke at international meetings, yet still waited to be exposed as a fraud.
What it feels like from the inside
People with imposter syndrome credit their success to outside causes. Feigofsky lists chance and error as the usual explanations. Psychology Today adds luck, good timing, and effort a person thinks they cannot repeat.
Stanford’s Center for Teaching and Learning traces a cycle with five steps.
- A new task arrives.
- Anxiety follows, with procrastination or over-preparing.
- The task gets done, and brief relief sets in.
- The person explains the success away, as luck or as having tricked people.
- Self-doubt grows, and the next task starts the loop again.
Feigofsky’s essay sorts sufferers into five types.
- The perfectionist treats anything short of perfect as failure.
- The natural genius thinks hard work proves a lack of talent.
- Superman or Superwoman counts one weak area as total failure.
- The expert fears being shown up for not knowing enough.
- The soloist sees asking for help as failing.
Who gets it
Clance and Imes first described it in women, but men get it too. Psychology Today says it remains more common among women, and in particular women of colour.
Stanford points to a 2019 review by Bravata and colleagues. It found that people from minoritised groups also often report imposter feelings, across gender, sexuality, class and race. Stanford also names bias and elitism as triggers. Being surrounded by other high achievers at a prestigious university can be enough.
Some jobs seem to breed it. Surveys of medical students, surgery residents and hospitalists found rates between 25% and 76%, Feigofsky reports, with men and women affected alike. Among hospitalists, years of experience and mentoring made no difference. Across high achievers generally, Psychology Today puts the figure at 25% to 30%.
Childhood can set it up. Psychology Today links it to intense parental pressure about grades. It says two kinds of message plant it in children: constant criticism, and sweeping praise such as being told they are the smartest in the world.
What it costs
The feeling changes behaviour. Feigofsky writes that over-preparing, procrastinating and long hours to avoid mistakes can raise anxiety, depression and burnout. Doctors with it may turn down promotion for fear of exposure, which then deepens the self-doubt.
Stanford sees the same pattern in students, who may stay quiet in class or skip opportunities they qualify for. Success can set it off too. Psychology Today lists winning an award, passing an exam or a promotion as common triggers.
What helps
Feigofsky’s advice for doctors starts with naming the feeling and talking it over with a trusted colleague or mentor. She also suggests asking for honest feedback and pausing to mark a success before moving on.
Psychology Today notes that people outside your own field may help more than colleagues. They can put a worry in context. For parents, it suggests praising effort rather than outcome.
Stanford argues the fix is not only personal. Because bias and prestige help cause it, the institution has to become more inclusive, not just the student.
