Introduction
On May 12, 2017, author Neil Gaiman wrote on his blog about a ceremony he was invited to years ago. The event didn't just include authors but great people from different fields—celebrities, scientists, and explorers. He said that he felt like he didn't deserve to be there and that they were way greater than him.
During the ceremony, Neil met a respectful old man. They talked about mutual things, like the fact that the man's name was also Neil. The man pointed at the people in the ceremony and said to Gaiman: "What am I doing here? These people did great things, and I don't belong here." Neil was stunned. Not only did the man think the same as he did, but he wasn't just any Neil—he was Neil Armstrong! in case you didn't know him, Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. Here we have a meeting between a successful author and a brilliant scientist, or at least the first scientist to take a step on the moon. Both of them felt as if they were imposters, as if they had reached that position because they fooled people into thinking they were important—imposters who invaded undeserved positions.
This wasn't an exceptional conversation. Let's look at a much greater author and scientist. Maya Angelou, one of the legends of modern literature, said that she wrote 11 books in her life, and with every book she started, she felt like an imposter, fearing that the new book would be the one to reveal her as a fraud. "You think that I'm talented, but I'm just lucky," she felt.
I have a question for you: Who is the most famous scientist in history? Correct, the one with crazy hair and a mustache, played by Tom Conti many times—Albert Einstein. Yes, even Albert Einstein thought he was an imposter. He said that all his life he felt that he was forcibly an imposter. When do you think he wrote this? You might assume he wrote it during the early stages of his career, but Einstein wrote this in 1955, the same year he died—after the whole world had asserted that he was an important scientist.
By then, E=mc² was written everywhere. We had invented the atomic bomb based on his theory, and he had won a Nobel Prize. His theories had changed our perspective about the universe. If after all of this he wasn't a brilliant scientist, who was?
Even though people like Armstrong and Einstein made unprecedented achievements, the feelings they described were common. However, the world didn't recognize it or give it a name until the early 1970s.
The Birth of a Syndrome
Dr. Rose Clance, an assistant professor at Oberlin College, was surprised when her students told her that they felt like they'd fail and that they didn't deserve to be in that college—that their acceptance was a mistake that would soon be revealed. They said this even though they always had high marks. This surprised Dr. Clance not only because it wasn't logical but also because it sounded familiar. It reminded her of her own experience.
Born into a simple family with a father who worked hard in a wood factory, she always felt like a failure. With every exam, she told her mother that she would fail, but she would succeed with flying colors. She became the first in her family to get into college and earned a PhD in Psychology. However, she always felt like a fraud and an imposter, fearing that sooner or later people would find out she wasn't talented but just lucky. She felt like she didn't belong and that those around her—working on their degrees, learning, or teaching—were much smarter than she was and actually deserved the position that she thought she didn't.
Dr. Clance, along with her colleague Dr. Suzanne Imes, spent more than five years talking to 150 women similar to them, who were known in fields like law, nursing, and teaching. These women had the same feelings. Clance and Imes described these feelings in a research paper titled "The Imposter Phenomenon."
When it was published, it spread rapidly. Although this study was based on women, people of every gender, race, age, and profession related to it.
A Crisis of Confidence
Fast forward to today, 50 years after this paper was published. Even though the earlier examples were about authors and scientists, according to a report published in 2024 by Korn Ferry—a company that studied more than 10,000 employees globally—71% of CEOs suffer from the Imposter Syndrome and are not confident in their qualifications. The report described this as a "Crisis of Confidence."
Nowadays, people take confidence in their looks from celebrities and models, who are considered the icons and reference points of beauty. Let me tell you that many of these icons have said that their lives are composed of suffering with the Imposter Syndrome. We're not talking about ordinary actors; we're talking about actors as big as Emma Watson and Tom Hanks.
According to a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in 2020, 82% of people have experienced the Imposter Phenomenon. Scientists discovered that this is a conscious experience—a feeling of not being talented but a fraud who fooled everyone around and reached undeserved positions and achievements using elements such as luck, coincidence, or a skill of acting talented. In general, feeling like a charlatan rather than an expert.
Even though everyone thinks that this feeling is a secret, this experience is global. Many people have the same feeling to the point that when a name appeared for it, people related and said that they actually feel like this.
The Imposter Cycle
According to a paper published in 2023 titled "Imposter Phenomenon," the feeling we described turns into a cycle. This cycle starts with the imposter feeling, which makes the person exert double the effort to get rid of the feeling of being a fraud. The study described the effort as that of superheroes, where the person exerts enormous effort to escape two opposite feelings.
One of these feelings is a phobia of failure called "Atychiphobia," as the person knows that failing will expose them among people since they consider themselves a fraud. The contrast here is that the person feels an opposite phobia called "Achievemephobia," which is the fear of success. Why would a person who feels like a fraud be scared of succeeding? Simply because if you succeed once, you need to succeed multiple times. Therefore, if you feel like a fraud, one big success will get you worried because you can't do it again, so people will call you a one-hit wonder or say it was by luck, and you'll be exposed as an imposter.
Therefore, the more you succeed, the more scared you are of getting exposed. It's a loop. If you fail, you'll prove to yourself that you're a fraud because you failed. On the other hand, if you succeed, you'll be fooling people even more, and they'll expose you next time because you can't repeat it.
You might think that after every new achievement, you'll feel relaxed and talented, but you'll actually repeat the cycle again. With time, you'll start to accept the feeling that you've become a skilled imposter, adept at convincing people that you're successful and talented, but you know the truth—that even your mom knows you're not. Of course, that's what you think about yourself. We're hard on ourselves, and we might need to seek help, but sometimes there's no money for therapy.
According to this study, this turns many people into "work martyrs," individuals who become trapped in an endless working cycle to try to convince people that they're not failures because they think they are. It's not logical; even Armstrong and Einstein thought they weren't enough, so would a normal person think they're enough?
Understanding the Causes
The Imposter Phenomenon doesn't have a specific definition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), as every disorder has a cause and a cure, but when the symptoms are sometimes conflicting—like fear of failure or success—the diagnosis becomes harder. Scientists like Ami Rokach said that it's a "construct" rather than a syndrome, meaning it contains a wide spectrum of symptoms. Some people called it a syndrome, which means that the symptoms come together, and this name spread the most.
What are the reasons for having an Imposter Syndrome? The first attempt to logically explain this was in Dr. Clance and Dr. Imes' paper. They linked the syndrome to childhood, specifically to two patterns.
The first pattern revolves around having siblings who were identified as better or prettier. You know when a teacher recognizes you from your older brother and keeps saying things like, "You're good but not like him; he was polite, studied hard, and got high marks."
The second pattern revolves around being originally known as excellent or talented. People of the first pattern didn't get validation from their parents; their parents didn't tell them they were good enough. Therefore, when their academic and work colleagues and the whole world tell them they're good, it's logical for them not to believe it and say that people are just cheering them up. Their parents didn't tell them that, so why would other people mean it?
People of the second pattern face a conflict between their parents' expectations and their own experience, which is naturally full of mistakes. Their parents set very high expectations, so they can't show them that they don't understand or are bad at something.
What's mutual between the two patterns is suffering from a crisis due to the difference between the messages they got from their parents and those from the world. This difference creates a split in their personality.
In her book Animal Joy, psychoanalyst Nuar Alsadir said that a person with the Imposter Syndrome has two personalities: a fake personality that they present as successful and excellent and protect from any behavior that might expose it, and a hidden real personality that still suffers from childhood problems and doubts. You're embarrassed by this hidden self and think it will be rejected if it surfaces.
Navigating Between Two Worlds
The truth is that you're not a failure hiding behind the mask of an expert, and you don't have two personalities. You just took a step forward and evolved. The imposter feelings usually arise after we take an important step in our lives—for example, moving to a higher social class or shifting careers. Something happens that sociologist Pierre Bourdieu called "split habitus." Our nature splits, and we live in two worlds at the same time.
When novelist Leslie Jamison asked people on Twitter to share their experience with the Imposter Syndrome, one of the messages described living with two natures. The person grew up on a farm but now lives somewhere different. Whenever he attends or invites people to a fancy event, he feels that people can still see the hay in his hair.
In this condition, the entire world recognizes you for a while, except for one person—you. You might ask, since the world is assuring us that we're good and talented, shouldn't that decrease our self-doubt over time?
Let me tell you my friend, the relation with our parents and what they said to us affects us heavily, even after we grow up, even after people convince us that they're trustworthy, and even after people convince us that we're good, we continue in this self-doubt. This relation is very important. It doesn't always decrease our self-doubt, but it can increase it.
Sometimes getting praised or reflecting on our success ensures our thought of being imposters much more. You could see an actor win an 'Oscar' and get praised by everyone, but he feels bad and thinks he let his father down by not helping him on the hot-dog cart.
The Role of Cognitive Bias and Culture
Many people have the Imposter Syndrome without having siblings with many achievements or parents who pressured them. Sometimes being smart without any pressure makes you see the world differently. This is what we call "cognitive bias," and it doesn't need any external stimuli, as it automatically creates pressure. Talented or smart people suppose that anyone can do what they do. "It's nothing important if I publish a paper in Nature journal." They think they're not special.
Sometimes the trigger for the Imposter Syndrome is your position in your community regarding gender or ethnicity. According to a study published in 2023, the Imposter Syndrome is more common in women than men and also in minorities. Another study published in 2017, titled "Black College Students," found that minorities are affected by the syndrome more, alongside some depression symptoms.
This happens because many communities make women and minorities feel like succeeding would be their maximum potential. Even though this is a racist discrimination, many of its victims believe it and feel like they reached a position against the rules of their community, leading them to feel like imposters.
A model as famous as Bella Hadid said that the Imposter Syndrome and feeling like she didn't deserve her place made her get a nose job at the age of 14, and she wishes she hadn't done that, preferring to keep her Middle Eastern features.
Another factor causing the Imposter Syndrome is community culture, not just discrimination. For example, according to a 2022 survey, 47% of British people suffer from the symptoms of the syndrome, and the reasons behind this are related to British culture. Coach Fiona Buckland, in her article "Feeling like an imposter" in The Guardian, said that her British clients didn't want to be labeled as successful because their community considers such self-labeling as arrogance. Her American clients had the opposite case; they were more open to addressing their success.
Simply, we can understand this from what psychologist Salazar Núñez said: "The problem isn't necessarily the person; it can also be the setting or culture."
Breaking the Silence
Even though there are different reasons, anyone who suffers from the Imposter Syndrome also suffers from what's called "pluralistic ignorance," where they feel they're the only imposters while others are normal. The percentages we discussed show that most people who share the same job or environment could be feeling like imposters. The problem is that if a person with the Imposter Syndrome talks and seeks help, this might prove to them that they're an imposter. That's why we're witnessing a contrast—a global syndrome where all of its sufferers feel like their problem is rare, but none of them know that the person next to them is as insecure as they are.
We also don't know the amount of effort the people around us exert, so it's logical to imagine it being much bigger than ours. Therefore, we feel less efficient than those around us.
The Dangers of Overconfidence
What if people realized they're not imposters and didn't need self-doubt? Is such a secure world even imaginable, where humans are confident in their intelligence and achievements? Imagine a world with no self-doubt—it would actually be a disaster.
In 1999, David Dunning and Justin Kruger published research titled "Unskilled and Unaware of It." In this research, they asked volunteers about general topics like law, medicine, logic, chess, and fishing. After each test, they asked them about their performance. The results showed that those who did poorly on the test overestimated their marks. The people who scored 10% thought they would get 70%. They knew nothing about the topic but thought they were experts.
They also noticed that the more the person knew about the topic, the more they realized there were aspects they didn't know about. This is known as the "Dunning-Kruger Effect." This study won a prize called the "IG Nobel," which is usually awarded to humorous or trivial research (The kind of researches I love). The author Robert Hughes said that the greater the celebrity, scientist, or author becomes, the greater their self-doubt gets. Full confidence is a gift that less talented people have for comfort.
People who don't doubt themselves could risk all their life savings in one project and could hurt their friends without knowing. It's correct that self-doubt causes suffering, anxiety, loss of opportunities, wasting time and energy, insomnia, and overthinking before bed. Despite all of this, self-doubt is important and plays a huge role in forming a good personality. It makes you aware of your behavior and pushes you to grow. Happiness doesn't come with success but with growth.
Balancing Doubt and Confidence
Self-doubt teaches you modesty and makes you want to know and do more, while some achievements could narrow your scope of thought. When this happens, you'll feel like you're perfect and will stop listening. If you think that you'll remain successful by repeating an achievement, then you've failed. Your perfection comes from recognizing your shortcomings.
Dr. Jill Stoddard said in an article titled "How to Succeed Despite Imposter Syndrome" that this syndrome didn't appear in the 1970s or the Industrial Revolution, but according to evolutionary psychology, it's possible that humans are predisposed to have this syndrome ever since early humans survived by hunting in groups. Each individual had to ensure their position in the group and ask themselves if they were a helpful addition to avoid being expelled, which meant death. Those who doubted themselves contributed more to saving the group.
It's similar in modern times; the Imposter Syndrome that Einstein, Armstrong, authors, and celebrities have makes them saviors of our civilization. The problem is that just as it saves us collectively as humanity, it burns out its individuals.
According to Kevin Cokley, a psychology professor at the University of Texas, if we consider the Imposter Syndrome to be a huge spectrum, there's always a price to pay for having self-doubt as the only thing that pushes you toward achieving more. You pay this price in the form of depression, anxiety, and sometimes detachment from people.
Embracing Growth
What you need to do is use your self-doubt to improve yourself, not to belittle your achievements and let it ruin your sense of success. We're talking about two extreme sides of an equation—you either feel like a total imposter and a fraud, or you're overly confident in yourself. What you need is to find a healthy balance between doubt and certainty. We need both; we need to have doubt sometimes and certainty at others.
I have a confession to make. When I'm writing in this blog, I feel like I have the Imposter Syndrome, and some free researches are way better than mine and deserve your visit and time more than I do.
"But doesn't that mean you feel that way only because you are competent and one of the best writers?"
Exactly, my dear viewer! now subscribe to AstonishingFact and stay tuned for the next Post!
