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THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CELL BIOLOGY

CHAPTER 1 • THE HEAD GAME 5

due to ability but rather only to luck, fate,

charm, attractiveness, or having manipulated

other people’s impressions; the secret convic-

tion that one is truly less intelligent and com-

petent than he/she appears; and an unrealis-

tic sense of one’s competence in which one

downplays strengths and exaggerates or does

not tolerate any deficiencies or weaknesses.

Numerous doctoral theses and research

papers have examined the type of person

who tends to fall prey to the Impostor

Phenomenon, and several psychological test-

ing instruments have been devised to meas-

ure the degree of manifestation. While origi-

nally suspected as a problem primarily

afflicting women, subsequent studies have

made it clear that similar numbers of men

also experience impostor feelings. In some

professions, men experience more severe

cases of Impostor Syndrome. For example,

within a group of faculty members, men

scored higher for the Impostor Phenomenon

than women did, whereas groups of college

students showed the opposite results. People

in non-professional occupations likewise are

susceptible to the impostor phenomenon.

Some characteristics and tendencies are

generally correlated with people who feel

like impostors. Such people may have feel-

ings of depression, anxiety, fear of failure and

of being discovered as a fraud; a propensity

to feel shame, low self-esteem, and introver-

sion as determined by the Myers-Briggs

Personality Type Indicator. (Introversion, as

defined by Myers-Briggs testing, is a charac-

teristic of many scientists.) Those who feel

like impostors often believe that many deci-

sions affecting them are made by other peo-

ple (and they may be right—Ph.D. qualifying

exam committees or tenure and promotion

committees, perhaps?) Those who experience

the Impostor Phenomenon are likely to see

intelligence as a fixed entity and not a mal-

leable quality. They are very achievement-

oriented. They are motivated in academic set-

tings by the need to look smart; when faced

with learning difficulties, they become anx-

ious, shameful, and concerned about looking

bad compared to others.

According to the literature, certain family

situations tend to spawn impostor feelings.

These include not receiving encouragement

to pursue educational or career aspirations

because they conflict with, or at least are

atypical of, the gender role, race, or age

expectations of the family. Particularly for

women, having goals that will put you out-

side your family’s socioeconomic class may

have the same result. Families that impose

unrealistic standards, those in which there is

only selective validation, or those in which

there is much conflict and expressed anger

also put children at risk for developing the

impostor phenomenon. Growing up with an

alcoholic or incestuous parent or in another

kind of dysfunctional family can lead to high

levels of impostorism. (Such serious factors

can also lead to psychosis such as Multiple

Personality Disorder.)

Those who feel like impostors

often believe that many decisions

affecting them are made by other

people.

While originally suspected as a

problem primarily afflicting

women, subsequent studies have

made it clear that similar

numbers of men also experience

impostor feelings.