Intellectual Fraud Research Articles

Imposter phenomenon and depression on a global level: exploring professional identity formation in health professional students

Background and relevance: The imposter phenomenon (IP) is characterized by high achieving individuals experiencing “chronic feelings of self-doubt, the fear of being discovered as an intellectual fraud, and a perception of being less intelligent or competent than peers.”1 Limited data exist on how feelings of imposter syndrome may affect aspects of one’s mental health. In the current climate of healthcare worker burnout, it is important to consider factors that may predispose individuals pursuing a career in healthcare to mental and emotional disengagement to assist in amelioration. This study aims to investigate the association between the occurrence of the imposter phenomenon and the frequency of depressed mood among students of the health professions on a global scale. Design and Methods: Student members of The Network: Towards Unity for Health responded to the Clance IP Scale and the PHQ-2 questionnaire. The analysis correlates indicators of (1) Region of study; (2) Area of study; (3) Year of study; (4) Preclinical vs. clinical stage of training; (5) Imposter Scale Score; and (6) Depression Score. We used Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests and linear regression to assess statistical significance. Results: More than three-quarters (89%) of respondents hadIP scores indicating moderate imposter feelings. A total of 68% of respondents had a PHQ-2 score indicating higher frequency of depressed mood. We found a significantly positive association between IP and depression scores. Conclusion: It is important to consider imposter syndrome as a potential risk factor for psychological distress among students in healthcare. Early identification is necessary as the presence of IP was shown to have a significantly positive relationship with the frequency of depressed mood. Familiarizing institutions with this relationship allows for early intervention.

Prevalence of Imposter Syndrome and Its Risk Factors Among University of Sharjah Medical Students.

Background Imposter syndrome describes an internal experience of intellectual fraud, where individuals attribute their academic or occupational endeavors and achievements primarily to luck rather than to their diligent efforts. Additionally, the stringent standards and prerequisites set by medical institutions create an environment conducive to impostorism among medical students. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and severity of imposter syndrome among medical students at the University of Sharjah. Methodology This research was designed as a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 400 participants enrolled in the study using non-probability convenience sampling, but 399 participants, 49.4% (197) from colleges of medicine and 50.6% (202) from dentistry, successfully completed the questionnaire. Participants completed a questionnaire containing the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale. Statistical associations between variables were tested using the chi-square test. Individuals with chronic medical conditions or those using medications with known psychiatric side effects were excluded. Results The analyzed sample comprised 399 students, with 64.7% females and 35.3% males. Most respondents were from year 2 (21.3%, 85), while the fewest were from year 5 (18.3%, 73). The majority of students fell into the categories of moderate (46.4%, 185) and frequent (35.8%, 143) imposter experiences. Among all investigated characteristics, pure academic factors such as field of study (p = 0.001), study phases (p = 0.032), advisor's attitude (p = 0.029), and comparison with peers' performance and grades (p = 0.024 and <0.001, respectively) exhibited the highest significant association with the severity of imposter syndrome. Conclusions This study revealed a high prevalence of imposter syndrome among medical students, emphasizing the need for comprehensive strategies and interventions targeting academically associated risk factors to alleviate the burden of imposter syndrome.

An immersive field trip focused on beef production increases the sense of belonging in ethnoracial minority college students.

Sense of belonging is a student's sense of feeling accepted, valued, and included by others in their discipline. Imposter syndrome is self-perceived intellectual fraud in areas of success. Sense of belonging and imposter syndrome can influence behavior and well-being and are linked to academic and career outcomes. Our objective was to evaluate if a 5-d tour of the beef cattle industry changed college students' sense of belonging and imposter tendencies with a focus on ethnicity/race. Procedures involving human subjects were approved by the Texas State University (TXST) IRB (#8309). Students from TXST and Texas A&M University (TAMU) attended a beef cattle industry tour in the Texas Panhandle in May 2022. Identical pre- and post-tests were administered immediately before and after the tour. Statistical analyses were conducted with SPSS v.26. Independent sample t-tests were used to evaluate the change from pre- to post-survey and one-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the effect of ethnicity/race. Students (n = 21) were mostly female (81%); attended TAMU (67%) or TXST (33%); and were White (52%), Hispanic (33%), or Black (14%). "Hispanic" and "Black" were combined as a single variable to analyze differences between White and ethnoracial minority students. Before the tour, there was a difference (P = 0.05) in sense of belonging in agriculture between White (4.33 ± 0.16) and ethnoracial minority (3.73 ± 0.23) students such that White students had stronger belonging. There was no change (P = 0.55) in White students' sense of belonging as a result of the tour, from 4.33 ± 0.16 to 4.39 ± 0.44. However, there was a change (P ≤ 0.01) in ethnoracial minority students' sense of belonging, from 3.73 ± 0.23 to 4.37 ± 0.27. There was no change (P = 0.36) in imposter tendencies from the pre-test (58.76 ± 2.46) to the post-test (60.52 ± 2.79). Ultimately, participating in the tour increased ethnoracial minority, but not White, students' sense of belonging and did not impact imposter syndrome tendencies across or within ethnicity/race. One benefit of implementing experiential learning opportunities in dynamic social environments is the potential to improve students' sense of belonging, especially in disciplines and careers where ethnoracial minority people are underrepresented.

Imposter syndrome: An opportunity to positively influence mentees

IntroductionImposter syndrome has been identified in various disciplines and somewhat quantified utilizing a standardized scale. This feeling of being an intellectual fraud can be present in high-achieving individuals and can cause personal hardship. Knowing that student pharmacists undergo growth of their professional identity throughout pharmacy school, this rapid change in self-perception presents circumstances that can induce imposter syndrome. PerspectiveThrough mentorship, faculty and preceptors are well positioned to have a positive impact on their mentees' imposter syndrome. Being able to recognize imposter syndrome and to take steps to provide resources supports mentees professional growth and security. Mentorship, open environments, constructive feedback, and simple awareness of imposter syndrome are tools for faculty to help learners struggling with imposter syndrome. ImplicationMentors may be able to foster more positive behaviors and perception of self in student pharmacists and other pharmacy learners through awareness of imposter syndrome.

The scam of pseudoscience

P Nombre y apellido seudosciences are by-products of the prestige of science as a social enterprise and as a means of obtaining knowledge. Their character is inherently negative, given that, by definition, a pseudoscience is an intellectual fraud consisting of products, practices, or ideas unconnected with scientific rationality that are asserted as science to society, in an act of rhetorical enhancement of their dubious goodness. For several decades they have attracted great interest, not only because of the strange and sometimes extreme nature of their contents, but also because of the alarming penetration they have reached in highly sensitive environments, such as the education or health system systems.

AB086. SOH21AS042. Impostor phenomenon in anaesthesiologists: a pilot study

Background: Impostor phenomenon (IP) was coined in 1978 to describe an intense, pervasive feeling of intellectual fraud found in successful, high achieving women. It has since been studied in medical students and junior doctors but to date no investigations include anaesthetists therefore this study provides novel, unique insights.

Do I Belong Here? Confronting Imposter Syndrome at an Individual, Peer, and Institutional Level in Health Professionals.

IntroductionImposter syndrome (IS) is a feeling of being an intellectual fraud and is common among health professionals, particularly those underrepresented in medicine. IS is accompanied by burnout, self-doubt, and beliefs of decreased success. This workshop aims to discuss the impact of IS and develop strategies to confront IS at the individual, peer, and institutional levels.MethodsDuring the 75-minute interactive workshop, participants listened to didactics and engaged in individual reflection, small-group case discussion, and large-group instruction. Workshop participants and facilitators included medical students, residents, fellows, faculty, staff, and program leadership. Anonymous postworkshop evaluations exploring participants’ satisfaction and intentions to change their behavior were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyze participants’ intentions to change their behavior.ResultsThe workshop was presented at three local academic conferences and accepted at one national conference. Data were collected from 92 participants. Ninety-two percent of participants felt the workshop met its objectives, and 90% felt the workshop was a valuable use of their time. Furthermore, 90% of participants stated they would apply information learned at the workshop in the future. The participants indicated an intent to change behavior on individual, peer, and institutional levels, while recognizing that barriers exist at all those levels.DiscussionThis workshop proved to be an effective means to discuss strategies on how to address IS at the individual, peer, and institutional levels. The materials can be adapted for relevance to various audiences.

Being an Imposter: Growing Out of Impostership.

Imposter syndrome is the fear of being discovered as an intellectual fraud. It is an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. It lowers a person's inner self-confidence, self-esteem that impedes work performance and this phenomenon is more prevalent among medical students. However, talking openly about it with peers, rooting positive thoughts, and building confidence help us to the appropriate reality of our situation and counter our negative self-talk.

Comparing Edgeworth’s and Ramsey’s Understanding of the Meaning of 'Logical, Objective, Probability Relations.' Ramsey’s View Is 'Utterly Preposterous' and 'Nonsense', Where We Have Borrowed Savage’s Verbal Condemnation of Economists Who Attempted to Apply the Subjective Theory of Probability Beyond Small Worlds (Short Run and Micro Applications only Are Allowed) on P.16 of His Foundations (1954)

Ramsey’s complete and total ignorance of Keynes’s definition of “objective, logical, probability relations”, contained on pages 35-36 of the A Treatise on Probability, which was explicitly referenced and discussed by Edgeworth in his two reviews, can only be explained by the conclusion that Ramsey never read more than a few pages of Part I of Keynes’s A Treatise on Probability plus briefly looking at a maximum of an additional 2-3 pages from Parts II,III,and V. The very idea that an 18 year old teenager could show up at Cambridge in 1921 and ,based on a small, 4 page, unrefereed note, that contains nothing correct in it about Keynes‘s A Treatise on Probability, allegedly convince J M Keynes that his logical theory of probability had to be abandoned, is ludicrous, silly, stupid, and foolish. Ramsey’s crucial error was his failure to identify Keynes’s very clear definition of logical probability on pp.35-36,which was then developed in far, far, far greater detail in Part III of the A Treatise on Probability. Of far greater concern is that every single one of the six topics below that were covered by Edgeworth in his two reviews of the A Treatise on Probability is omitted from both of Ramsey’s reviews: • Keynes’s clearly defined connection between his objective, logical, probability relations and objective, logical, similarity relations, which form the foundation for cognitive science and psychology, on pp.35-36 of Part I(chapter III) • Keynes’s initial specification of the evidential weight of the argument relation,V(a/h), in Part I (chapter 6) which Keynes finished in Part IV (chapter 26-V(a/h)=w,0≤w≤1) • Keynes’s interval valued and non additive approach to probability (Part II,chapters 10-17) based on Boole’s upper-lower probabilities approach specified in his The Laws of Thought (1954,pp.265-269), as well as Keynes’s critique of the assumption of additivity • Keynes’s finite probabilities of Part III using a modified version of Boole’s Problem X to support his application of analogies • Keynes’s use of decision weights to explicitly modify additive probability ,thereby transforming additive probability into non(sub) additive ,conventional coefficients of weight and risk, c, in Part IV. • Keynes’s use of Chebyshev’s Inequality to establish lower bounds for a safety first approach in Part V and use of the Lexis-Q test to establish the constancy(stability) of applications of the limiting frequency approach to probability Given Edwin B .Wilson’s correct 1923 conclusion, made in correspondence with Edgeworth, that only Edgeworth was fully qualified to review the A Treatise on Probability, we reach the conclusion that Ramsey and Braithwaite never actually read more than a very few pages of a book that they claimed to have read. The only conclusion that can be drawn that is consistent with this evidence is that Ramsey and Braithwaite were involved in an intellectual fraud in 1921 and 1922 that continues in the 21st century. See, for example, Misak (2020) and Janeway (2020).

J M Keynes’s Is-Lm Model in Chapter 21 in Part IV of the General Theory on Pages 298–299: Some Examples of Cognitive Dissonance Among Economists Attempting to Deal With Keynes’s Innovation in 1936 in 2018–2019

No macroeconomist in the 20th or 21st century has been able to deal effectively with Keynes’s original work done on his IS-LM model that he carried out between December ,1933 and February ,1936,where the final version appeared in the General Theory or in his deployment of that model in his reply to Jacob Viner in his February,1937 Quarterly Journal of Economics article. The major impediment to the grasping and understanding of Keynes’s IS-LM model for economists appears to be the claim, made by the astonishingly mathematically illiterate economist ,Joan Robinson, about having collaborated with Keynes on the writing of the General Theory. This belief is easily demonstrated to be false for any economist who reads pages 134-148 of Volume 14 of the Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes, where Keynes, in letters to J. Robinson, categorizes Joan Robinson’s understanding of his liquidity preference theory of the rate of interest as being ”nonsense”. These important pages of correspondence , especially the letters from Keynes to J. Robinson of November 4th,November 8th ,and November 9th, 1936,completely demolish any claims made by J. Robinson about assisting Keynes or collaborating with Keynes or helping Keynes in the writing of the General Theory .Keynes’s mention of help received from J. Robinson in his Preface to the General Theory was clearly withdrawn in these exchanges between September,1936 and November ,1936. What Keynes discovered in this correspondence in 1936 was that J. Robinson was completely ignorant of the basic concepts used by him in the construction of his liquidity preference theory of the rate of interest in chapters 13,14,15,16,17 and 21 of the General Theory. J. Robinson’s comments on Keynes’s General Theory relied completely on her being coached, assisted and supported by her husband ,Austin Robinson, and her lover,Richard Kahn.There are a number of similarities between Joan Robinson and Elizabeth Holmes ,who was able to successfully escape being exposed as an intellectual fraud from 2003-2018.Joan Robinson continues to be accepted as a researcher who worked closely with Keynes,despite massive evidence to the contrary. Joan Robinson claimed in 1962 that the IS-LM model was the work of Bastard Keynesians ,who did not understand what Keynes was doing in his analysis in the General Theory. It is Joan Robinson, and not the Bastard Keynesians, who ,unfortunately, only got it half right, who did not understand what Keynes was doing in both the General Theory and the 1937 Quarterly Journal of Economics article. The continuing impact of Joan Robinson in misleading the entire economics profession for 84 years can be traced simply by examining the recent literature written about the General Theory and /or the IS-LM model. Keynes’s total contribution in the General Theory in 1936, which was the IS-LM model ,combined with the D-Z model that incorporated expectations and uncertainty, will never be recovered until the many myths made up about Keynes by J. Robinson are finally removed from the literature on Keynes.

The Myth of Richard Kahn and the Multiplier: Keynes, Not Kahn, Created the Multiplier Concept in 1921 in His a Treatise on Probability and Taught Kahn How to Write His June, 1931 Economic Journal Paper

The myth that R. Kahn taught J M Keynes the multiplier,so that without Kahn’s contribution,there would have been no possibility of Keynes having written the General Theory in 1936,like the myth that there is no IS-LM mathematical model in the General Theory , can be traced to deliberate canards made by Joan Robinson repeatedly in her life time. Keynes exposed Robinson as an intellectual fraud in late 1936 in correspondence with her in the months of September through November when he discovered that she did not have the slightest idea about his liquidity preference theory of the rate of interest, which is impossible to analyze in (r,Y) space except with an IS-LM model. The economics profession has incorporated these myths into the official history of economic thought and macroeconomic history, as can easily be seen by visiting Investopedia or Wikipedia. These myths go hand in glove with other myths about Keynes, such as the myth that an 18 year old Frank Ramsey showed up in Cambridge and convinced Keynes that his logical theory of probability ,based directly on the work of the greatest mathematical logician in history, George Boole, was full of errors and mistakes that then led Keynes to renounce his theory and accept some version of Ramsey’s approach. One can see how these myths end up taking on a life of themselves when one realizes that the myth of Adam Smith’s theory of the Invisible Hand of the market is universally taught in all principles courses to lower division undergraduates in all economics courses, even though Smith himself completely rejected any such theory in both the Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations.

Exploring the connection between impostor phenomenon and postgraduate students feeling academically-unprepared

ABSTRACTImpostor phenomenon refers to an overwhelming feeling of being an intellectual fraud despite evidence to the contrary, and it affects highly capable individuals in many fields, including those in postgraduate education. This project sought to answer the following question: in what ways do postgraduate students enrolled in a large, American institution experience impostor phenomenon during their postgraduate education? Interviews and a survey showed that the majority of the participants experienced impostor phenomenon, and that many of those feelings related to the participants feeling academically-unprepared, including concerns related to reading, writing, and discussing academic work. This article explores this connection between impostor phenomenon and participants feeling like they lacked sufficient academic skill sets to succeed in their programmes. The results build a case for doing literacy work as a way to address impostor phenomenon among postgraduate students.

Exploring and Managing the Impostor Phenomenon in Palliative Care: A Case Series

The impostor phenomenon (IP) describes the experience of questioning one's abilities and fearing exposure as an intellectual fraud, despite objective evidence of success. The IP has been identified in high-achieving professionals across a variety of disciplines, including clinical medicine, and can be associated with significant anxiety and psychological distress. In this series, we present three authentic cases that demonstrate how the IP may manifest in palliative care practice. Acknowledging the current emphasis on clinician wellness and burnout, we suggest that the IP may be one important source of distress for many early-career clinicians in palliative care. With the physician as the focus of each case, we explore the difficult emotions faced and highlight how palliative care clinicians may be uniquely vulnerable to the IP. We then identify concrete strategies to help clinicians manage feelings of IP and enhance their professional well-being.

The ridiculed Impostor: Testing the associations between dispositions toward ridicule and being laughed at and the Impostor Phenomenon

Individual differences in how people experience and engage in laughter and ridicule can be described by three personality dispositions: gelotophobia (fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (joy in being laughed at), and katagelasticism (joy in laughing at others). We study the correlates of how people deal with ridicule and being laughed at with the Impostor Phenomenon (IP; individual differences in the failure to internalize success and feelings of intellectual fraud). We tested our hypotheses in two independently collected samples of students and working professionals (N = 315/229; M = 22.7/37.1 years; 54.9/59.4% females). In line with previous studies, the IP was more pronounced in the students (g = 0.45). As expected, the fear of being laughed at best predicted the IP robustly positively (26–31% explained variance), and only numerically small effects (≤ 3% explained variance) existed for joy in being laughed at and laughing at others. Associations between the laughter-related dispositions and the IP did not differ between students and professionals. We discuss the findings with respect to expectations derived from theory, potential mediators, and future research directions.

Impostor Phenomenon and Burnout in General Surgeons and General Surgery Residents

Impostor phenomenon (IP) characterizes feelings of self-doubt coupled with feelings that achievements were based on luck and a fear of being discovered as an intellectual fraud. Recently, studies have focused on IP in medical trainees and its association with burnout; however, this research has not yet been conducted on surgeons. This study addresses that gap by investigating the prevalence of IP and burnout in general surgeons and surgery residents. Participants completed two unlinked, blinded surveys. The first survey included demographics and scholarly activity, while the second included the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) and a validated, single-item burnout score. Hennepin County Medical Center and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. General surgeons and general surgery residents at two teaching hospitals, one community-based (N = 46) and one university-based (N = 42). The majority of both surgeons and residents were male, Caucasian, and married. Residents scored significantly higher compared to faculty in nearly half of CIPS questions. The overall CIPS score was significantly higher in trainees as well (61 vs 51, p = 0.017). Burnout did not differ significantly between trainees (30%) and faculty (41%) (p = 0.545). We found no significant differences in gender or years of practice in those with clinical IP (CIPS >62), and logistic regression analysis showed burnout as the only significant association for clinical IP symptoms (OR 3.95, p = 0.017). Contrary to studies in other medical fields, female general surgery faculty and trainees were no more likely than males to display characteristics of IP. Residents did; however, score higher than faculty on overall CIPS score. While we cannot determine how burnout and IP directly impact each other, our study shows that both faculty and trainees experiencing burnout are more likely to report symptoms of IP.

Effects of the Imposter Phenomenon on Measures of Assertiveness in Female Professionals in South Africa

Assertiveness is arguably one of the strongest predictors of success among business leaders and professionals. The study focuses on imposter phenomenon (IP), which occurs when an individual, normally considered to be a high achiever, undergoes an internal experience of feeling like an intellectual fraud or experiences a fear of failure upon achieving success, and the relationship of IP with assertiveness. Due to an absence of research on the relationship between IP and assertiveness, particularly in professionals in South Africa, this study investigates the way these two variables relate to each other. The purpose of this study is to 1) investigate whether IP is prevalent in female professionals in South Africa, 2) investigate whether IP and assertiveness are correlated and 3) determine whether IP is a predictor of assertiveness. The study was conducted on working professionals in South Africa (N = 165) and questionnaires were distributed online. The instruments used were the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Survey and elements of the Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scales. The professionals assessed were drawn from different industry sectors and across all job functions. The results suggest that IP is prevalent in professionals in South Africa and bears a moderately negative relationship to assertiveness. Another finding was that IP is a negative predictor of assertiveness. Gender also had an effect on the relationship between the two variables; the relationship was only found to be significant among women when the sample was split.

Effects of the Imposter Phenomenon on Measures of Assertiveness in Female Professionals in South Africa

Assertiveness is arguably one of the strongest predictors of success among business leaders and professionals. The study focuses on imposter phenomenon (IP), which occurs when an individual, normally considered to be a high achiever, undergoes an internal experience of feeling like an intellectual fraud or experiences a fear of failure upon achieving success, and the relationship of IP with assertiveness. Due to an absence of research on the relationship between IP and assertiveness, particularly in professionals in South Africa, this study investigates the way these two variables relate to each other. The purpose of this study is to 1) investigate whether IP is prevalent in female professionals in South Africa, 2) investigate whether IP and assertiveness are correlated and 3) determine whether IP is a predictor of assertiveness. The study was conducted on working professionals in South Africa (N = 165) and questionnaires were distributed online. The instruments used were the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Survey and elements of the Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scales. The professionals assessed were drawn from different industry sectors and across all job functions. The results suggest that IP is prevalent in professionals in South Africa and bears a moderately negative relationship to assertiveness. Another finding was that IP is a negative predictor of assertiveness. Gender also had an effect on the relationship between the two variables; the relationship was only found to be significant among women when the sample was split.

Predatory journals: una amenaza emergente para autores y editores de publicaciones biomédicas.

So-called predatory publishing is a new and rising phenomenon presenting as an intellectual fraud that jeopardises the quality of scientific contribution, compromises the activity of authors, reviewers and editors of legitimate journals, damages the image of open access publications and is a very profitable business. In this paper, we review the concept and relevance of predatory journals and the characteristics that differentiate them from legitimate publications. Neurosurgical and general neuroscience journals are not immune to this problem. Academic institutions and ethics committees have a duty to raise awareness of this phenomenon and provide information and support to authors and the whole scientific community to avoid its propagation and potential control of biomedical publishing.

A Refutation of the Paul Davidson and Post Keynesian Claim that Paul Samuelson Was Never a Keynesian

A Refutation of the Paul Davidson and Post Keynesian Claim that Paul Samuelson Was Never a Keynesian

Validation of the German-language Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (GCIPS)

The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is characterized by external attribution of success, feelings of inadequacy, and a fear of being exposed as intellectual fraud. The most frequently used and psychometrically sound IP measure is the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) whose German version has not been validated yet. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and validity of the German CIPS. In two independent samples (N=151; 149), analyses yielded good reliability (α=.87; .89) and item-total correlations (.47; .51). Robust correlations to IP-related variables (depression, fear of negative evaluation, attributional style, locus of control, and self-esteem) supported the nomological validity. Partial correlation analysis controlling for depression revealed a unique attributional style for IP-high scorer which manifests in external-instable attributions concerning success. In line with previous findings, an exploratory factor analysis (Sample 1) yielded three factors (Fake, Luck, and Discount), which accounted for 44% of variance. Confirmatory factor analyses (Sample 2) supported this 3-factor-model. The diagnostic application of the German CIPS is encouraged.