Imposter Syndrome

The so-called "Imposter Syndrome" is a very common phenomenon in today's society that not many have heard of, but which many have experienced.
It is expressed in the fact that, once in a new place, a person begins to feel that he has achieved this new place in some dishonest way, and that in fact he is far from being so good, and soon everyone will notice this. Psychologists note that more than 70% of successful people face similar thoughts. Often the most curious thing about impostor syndrome is that the person is already successful at the moment, but just can't accept it.
All due to the fact that there is a problem with the transformation of one's own competence into an internal sensation. That is, a person sees that he has a complete, good portfolio and an excellent resume, but emotionally disconnects from them, saying “this is not mine.”

Inside the "imposter" two different stories do not fit together: the one that the summary told for him, and the one that the person imposed on himself.

Why is this happening?

According to psychologists, in such situations, the Dunning-Kruger effect takes place.
Here is how it is explained: a narrow-minded person does not have enough experience to correctly assess his own qualifications, so he is convinced that he is a genius from birth - even if this is far from being the case.
However, the more experience a person has, the more he realizes how much he was mistaken before. Therefore, often even very talented and capable people tend to underestimate their own capabilities. For the first time “acquainted” with the impostor syndrome, many described their feelings in approximately the same way:
“It seems to me that everyone is about to understand that I am unworthy of the place I occupy.” The irony, however, is that the syndrome occurs not just in talented people, but in a few of them, who are the least impostor.

Among whom is the "Imposter Syndrome" most common?

One part of the researchers believes that the syndrome can manifest itself regardless of gender, while the other is inclined to think that it is still more common among women. This is explained by the fact that women are used to assessing their work worse than it really is. And this despite the fact that even the concept of "imposter syndrome" was invented by female scientists Paolyn Klans and Susan Imes.

During one experiment at a medical school, students were asked to evaluate the results of their own work for themselves.
It was noted that female students often gave themselves lower marks than boys, despite the fact that, according to professors, the female half of the audience studied better. The same result was shown by a similar study at Harvard: in most disciplines related to legal practice, female students significantly underestimated their own scores. Things can get even worse if, for example, a woman works in a field that is considered masculine and evaluates herself in comparison with others.

Types of "Imposters"

In the process of researching the phenomenon, Valerie Young, author of a book on successful women with SS, identified five types of the syndrome:

• Expert
Associated with a lack of expert knowledge in any area - including professional.

It seems to a person that he does not know enough to perform this or that work, which significantly reduces its quality.

• Perfectionist
No matter how such a person's work is done, it will always seem to him that he could do better.

Therefore, he does not accept compliments and does not believe them.

• Superhero
People are so eager to get the approval of others that they take on too many impossible tasks.

•
A man of genius evaluates himself not by real results, but by the abilities inherent in nature.

Expects everything to work right the first time.

• The Individualist
Person believes that he can only succeed if he works alone.

Even when working in a team, he will put personal needs above team needs.

Of course, there is a certain connection between these types, because they all come from the same source. Moreover, there are mixed types, and even if today you are an Expert Imposter, tomorrow you can easily become a Genius Imposter, and vice versa.

Statistics

Imposter syndrome does not choose between men and women - but, as various studies show, it is women who are most susceptible to it (even the term was coined by them). In particular, in those areas in which male labor predominates. Moreover, if the work of women is evaluated by men, the likelihood of SS also increases.

How to get rid of SS?

There is good news - you can get rid of this scourge without even making an appointment with a psychotherapist. There are some simple tips on how to achieve this:

1. Never stop learning. Enjoy the process itself, rather than waiting for specific results. Remember that the current you is the best version of what you were before, but you can become even better because you keep learning! Don't push yourself to specific limits, gain experience and don't expect too much from yourself.
2. Rate yourself as "good enough". Yes, you're not perfect, but you don't have to be perfect.
3. Do not listen to the inner voice when it scolds you. Don't forget: you are a good person, and even if you make mistakes, you can always correct them.
4. Don't be afraid to speak the truth. Don't want to be an impostor? Don't be it! Do not wear the mask of a happy person, talk about your discomfort - perhaps there is a person in your society who will understand and support you.

As soon as you admit at least to yourself that there really is a problem - how will you embark on the path of correcting it. Take off the mask of an impostor, tell people how you feel - and make sure from their words that everything is not so bad with you.  

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