Familial and personal characteristics profiles predict bias in academic competence and impostorism self-evaluations

Abstract

ABSTRACT The goal of this longitudinal study was to explore the familial and personal characteristics that are potentially shared by two related phenomena observed in students: negative bias in self-evaluation of academic competence and impostorism. Specifically, this study aimed to examine whether the same set of characteristics (parental overprotection, conditional parental support, test anxiety, concern over mistakes and self-esteem) could be combined to predict both phenomena in high school students. To do so, these characteristics were first measured in 648 7th and 8th graders. In the three following years, students’ negative bias and impostorism were assessed. A latent profile analysis revealed a two-class model of characteristics. One group presented a “negative” pattern characterized by high parental overprotection, conditional parental support, test anxiety and concern over mistakes, and low self-esteem. Another group presented a “positive” pattern: students’ scores on all familial and personal variables were more favorable. As hypothesized, membership in the “negative” profile predicted negative bias and impostorism at T2, T3, and T4. This highlights the principle of multifinality and suggests that the two phenomena might be distinct aspects of a single broader issue such as a tendency toward a biased interpretation of information about one’s own competence, or self-protection.