impostor syndrome
Sign in to saveAlso known as impostor phenomenon, impostor experience, impostorism, fraud syndrome, imposter syndrome
psychological pattern in which people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud"
Key facts
- Other names
- Impostor phenomenon, impostorism
- Specialty
- Psychiatry
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- mental state
Show 1 more fact
- facet of
- psychology
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~14 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological experience in which a person suffers from feelings of intellectual and/or professional fraudulence. One source defines it as "the subjective experience of perceived self-doubt in one's abilities and accomplishments compared with others, despite evidence to suggest the contrary".
Those who suffer from impostor syndrome often doubt their skills, talents, or accomplishments. They may have a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as frauds. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon do not believe they deserve their success or luck. They may think that they are deceiving others because they feel as if they are not as intelligent as they outwardly portray themselves to be.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “impostor syndrome” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.