Impostor feelings and academic decision making: an anchoring vignette approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) refers to the psychological experience of individuals mistakenly perceiving themselves as incompetent, despite external evidence of their success. Research has highlighted the prevalence of impostor feelings within academic settings, particularly among women. To better understand the gender gap in academia, our research questions explore the role of IP, gender, and support systems as potential predictors of students' decisions to study further, using a South African university student sample. Anchoring vignettes are used to improve the comparability across survey responses. Consistent with previous research, our findings confirm that women report higher levels of impostor feelings compared to men. Moreover, we observe a significant negative association between impostor feelings and the likelihood of students pursuing further studies. Interestingly, men with intense IP levels are more likely to opt out of studying further compared to women with intense impostor feelings. Additionally, individuals with mentors in their field of study are more likely to study further relative to those without mentors. These findings are reinforced when participants advise whether fictional characters in hypothetical situations should study further: characters experiencing high levels of impostor feelings are more frequently advised against studying further.