175. Imposter Syndrome Is a Myth

September 18, 2024

Imposter syndrome is a myth. Well, mostly anyway. We'll unpack this concept of imposter syndrome, or rather, imposter phenomenon, emphasizing that the common perception of it as a 'syndrome' is misleading. In this first part of our two-part series, you'll get a historical overview of this phenomenon, which starts with the work of Dr. Pauline Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes' research in the 1970s. Most importantly, we'll bust some myths around the "who" and "why" of this phenomenon, hitting on the facts that imposter feelings are universal and not solely linked to self-esteem or specific demographics. The takeaway is this: if we want to address our imposter feelings, we need to look at them more holistically and consider evidence-based strategies to reduce them. Those practical steps will be explored in part 2 of this series.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Key moments:

00:00 Introduction to Joy Lab Podcast

00:33 Exploring Imposter Syndrome

02:37 History and Origins of Imposter Syndrome

05:53 Modern Perspectives on Imposter Syndrome

08:18 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Sources and Notes:

Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Your Joy Lab membership also includes our NMH Community!
Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247. Access here.
Langford, J., & Clance, P. R. (1993). The imposter phenomenon: Recent research findings regarding dynamics, personality and family patterns and their implications for treatment. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 30(3), 495–501. Access here.
Tran, N. (2023). From imposter phenomenon to infiltrator experience: Decolonizing the mind to claim space and reclaim self. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 29(2), 184–193. Access here.
Number of doctoral degrees earned in the United States from 1949/50 to 2031/32, by gender.
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Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247. Access here.
Tran, N. (2023). From imposter phenomenon to infiltrator experience: Decolonizing the mind to claim space and reclaim self. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 29(2), 184–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000674
Langford, J., & Clance, P. R. (1993). The imposter phenomenon: Recent research findings regarding dynamics, personality and family patterns and their implications for treatment. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 30(3), 495–501. Access here.
Number of doctoral degrees earned in the United States from 1949/50 to 2031/32, by gender.

Episode Transcript

Welcome to Joy Lab!: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Joy Lab podcast, where we help you uncover and foster your most joyful self. Your hosts, Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek, bring you the ideal mix of soulful and scientifically sound tools to spark your joy, even when it feels dark. When you're ready to experiment with more joy, combine this podcast with the full Joy Lab program over at JoyLab.coach

Aimee Prasek: Well, hey everyone, Aimee here. Just, just me for this episode. Welcome to Joy Lab. I am so glad you are here. Today, I want to talk about imposter syndrome. And I know there's a lot of conversation about this around. And normalizing these thoughts, feelings, experiences is super helpful. And I think the way imposter phenomenon, we'll talk more about that in a moment, has been discussed, is not super helpful when we want to deal [00:01:00] with it effectively.

So I want to give some really evidence based strategies to tackle it. That's what we're going to do over the next two episodes.Additionally, this month in Joy Lab, we are talking about our element of love. And love and the other elements we work on here at Joy Lab, they are antidotes to imposter syndrome, truly. So, let's dive in. I want to first define imposter syndrome and I'm using quotes around syndrome very, purposefully. Imposter syndrome is often described as an inability to acknowledge our competence. So our self assessment is off, and we are skewed in such a way that even though we are capable and competent, Assuming that's true, we still feel like a fraud.

We are just waiting for someone to call us out or discover that we don't [00:02:00] deserve to be where we are. I probably don't need to describe the feelings anymore. We can probably all nod. Yes, I've had those. These are normal feelings. But the point I want to make in this episode and next one as well is that imposter syndrome is actually a myth.

At least how it's been communicated anyway. So in this episode, we'll get into how imposter syndrome even became a buzzword, a bit on why it's a myth. And then in next episode, we will talk about what it really is. And what we can do about it to shake it off. First, I want to take us on a bit of a history lesson or a timeline of this concept of imposter syndrome.

So, imposter syndrome, that's the last time I'm going to say it, hopefully, and put air quotes up around it. But it's not the original term. The term imposter phenomenon was coined about 50 years ago, when two [00:03:00] researchers, Dr. Pauline Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes. noticed how they and their fellow, women academic colleagues would express anxieties around their abilities.

They felt as if they were lucky at best to be where they were, even when they could match up with or even outperform their male colleagues. So they dug into this experience more. They surveyed other colleagues, their women students, and found that many of these students expressed these same feelings.

They didn't feel like they were measuring up. They felt like frauds. They termed that imposter phenomenon. And likely because of this research, the imposter phenomenon was originally thought to be particularly pervasive among women. This is, this original research is the late 70s, where, you know, vast majority [00:04:00] of folks getting doctorates are in that academic environment were men, white men in particular, very homogenous population.

So, the assumption was that women were coming into these spaces, spaces that were, previously, rarely occupied by anyone other than white men. And they were feeling like imposters, which made sense. But I think it's really important to know when this concept of imposter phenomena, phenomenon is researched, demographic variables like gender, race, ethnicity, those factors don't show consistent impact.

So they're not consistently associated with imposter syndrome. Which is evidence that this is a very universal experience. Women in this academic setting really just had the conversations. They like raised the issue up. They had access to the research to bring it out. At the same time, this also [00:05:00] doesn't dismiss the upstream influence that rigid or oppressive environments can play on imposter feelings.

But as we'll get into more in next episode, those environments, really surge our anxiety. They activate this kind of chronic stress response, and that can be misinterpreted as imposter syndrome and we blame ourselves as it broken or lacking. No, it's not true. We'll talk about that next episode. Sorry, back on track.

Okay. So there are significant contributors that we have influence over right now, no matter our environments, and that can really kick imposter phenomenon out of our heads more quickly. And that's what we're really focusing on, understanding in this episode and then, you know, the strategies in next episode.

So let's fast forward now to Instagram. Where this concept was resurrected in the [00:06:00] last decade. And it was really brought to life by women sharing their stories of experiencing these imposter feelings in the context of their job. Just like Clance and Imes had identified in their colleagues nearly 50 years ago.

And the good thing was, again, that this phenomenon was being talked about. these feelings were getting attention because these are true. These feelings are true. They are real. The big problem though, was that imposter phenomenon was rebranded and twisted into a kind of diagnosis. What we call imposter syndrome oftentimes now. And it became nearly fully focused on self-esteem.

So the message was that you have imposter syndrome because you don't have enough self-esteem. And research on this concept of imposter phenomenon is very clear that self- esteem is just a small contributor to imposter feelings, [00:07:00] smaller than the impact of the other factors we're going to talk about next episode. Which means that you can have imposter feelings and have good self-esteem.

So it's not the most effective place to put our attention. Another problem with this hyper focus on self-esteem is then where the blame gets laid. Obviously, it is squarely on the person having those imposter feelings. If you have those feelings, you have a syndrome and you need to change or conform who you are to match the details or expectations of your environment so that those imposter feelings go away and that is not the case.

We don't need to man up. Or change who we are. As we say around here, I am perfect just the way I am, and I could use a little improvement. We are all perfect and we all need some improvement. We are only imposters when we try to contort ourselves [00:08:00] into what isn't true for us. When we move away from the goodness that is within us.

So what can we do to squash some of this? To make that imposter voice more quiet, maybe even kick it out the door most of the time. That's what we'll get into next episode. Until then, I want to just invite us to soak into some wisdom from author, monk, Thomas Merton. Here's what he wrote: "Finally, I am coming to the conclusion that my highest ambition is to be what I already am. That I will never fulfill my obligation to surpass myself unless I first accept myself. And if I accept myself fully in the right way, I will already have surpassed myself."

Thanks for joining us!: Thank you for listening to the Joy Lab podcast. If you enjoy today's show, visit JoyLab.coach to learn more about the full Joy Lab program. Be sure to [00:09:00] rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

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175. Imposter Syndrome Is a Myth

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