Abstract
The Impostor Phenomenon can be described as the tendency to attribute professional success not to one’s own abilities but to excessive effort or fortunate external circumstances. Individuals strongly experiencing those tendencies fear that one day they will be exposed as “impostors” as soon as their alleged incompetence can no longer be concealed. Typical characteristics of the Impostor Phenomenon outlined by Clance (1985) show a remarkable conceptual similarity to the personality construct of perfectionism. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating how the Impostor Phenomenon is related to various facets of dispositional perfectionism with respect to predominant conceptualizations of perfectionism by Frost et al. (1990), Hewitt and Flett (1991), as well as their combination within the bifactor model of Perfectionistic Strivings and Perfectionistic Concerns (Frost et al. 1993). A total of N = 274 individuals participated in an online survey including the Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS; Clance 1988), the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS; Frost et al. 1990), and the Hewitt und Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS short form; Hewitt et al. 2008). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine the differential contributions of perfectionism dimensions and factors in predicting the Impostor Phenomenon. The perfectionism dimensions Doubts about Actions, Concern over Mistakes and Socially prescribed Perfectionism appeared to be efficient predictors of the Impostor Phenomenon. Contrary to Perfectionistic Strivings, Perfectionistic Concerns as a maladaptive perfectionism factor strongly contributed to the prediction of the Impostor Phenomenon. Theoretical and practical implications of the associations between the Impostor Phenomenon and multidimensional perfectionism are discussed.
Highlights
There are people who are objectively perceived as very competent due to their professional or academic achievements and qualifications, but who perceive themselves as insufficient and do not believe in their own abilities
We found strong correlations between multidimensional perfectionism defined by Frost et al (1990) and the Impostor Phenomenon” (IP), which primarily applies for Concern over Mistakes as excessive fear of df1,2 F
The reported research findings suggest that primarily high manifestations of maladaptive facets of perfectionism such as doubts about the quality of one’s own performances and actions, the fear of making mistakes, and the dependence on high standards of others contribute to the impostor tendencies of high performers and could be considered as potential predisposing and sustaining factors of the IP
Summary
There are people who are objectively perceived as very competent due to their professional or academic achievements and qualifications, but who perceive themselves as insufficient and do not believe in their own abilities. Clance and Imes (1978) first discovered this phenomenon in their therapeutic work with women from different professions and According to Clance (1985), “impostors” are characterized by a so-called superwoman/superman complex, high performance demands as well as the tendency to overwork. According to their need to be the very best, they set themselves unrealistically high standards and strive to accomplish each task flawlessly (Imes and Clance 1984). Individuals with high impostor tendencies often feel overwhelmed and overgeneralize themselves as failures when they are unable to fulfill their exaggerated goals (Clance 1985)
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