{"id":177754,"date":"2025-06-04T03:20:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T01:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/talentfuld-men-tvivlende-saadan-haandterer-du-impostersyndromet\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T12:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T10:35:47","slug":"you-did-well-so-why-do-you-feel-like-a-fraud-the-psychology-of-impostor-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/you-did-well-so-why-do-you-feel-like-a-fraud-the-psychology-of-impostor-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"You did well \u2014 so why do you feel like a fraud? The psychology of impostor syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of us have probably experienced this: You\u2019ve delivered a solid performance. But you still hear a voice in the back of your mind whispering that you were just lucky \u2014 or that you even fooled others into thinking you\u2019re intelligent and competent. You are actually undeserving of praise.<\/p>\n

Psychology calls the phenomenon impostor syndrome or the impostor phenomenon.<\/p>\n

The first time impostor syndrome was described by psychologists was in 1978. Since then, it has only rarely been the object of controlled and scientific studies, and researchers have seldom investigated the mechanisms that make some people feel like frauds \u2014 for no reason.<\/p>\n

But Sucharit Katyal, a postdoc at the Department of Psychology, has succeeded in developing a controlled experiment to do just that.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe tried to control for all relevant factors in our experiment, and we got all 508 participants to perform at the same level. They evaluated their own performance differently, but there was actually no real difference between them,\u00ab says Sucharit Katyal.<\/p>\n

Rampant impostor syndrome in academia<\/h4>\n

He might have been inspired to develop the experiment based on his own experience. As a trained psychologist entering the world of academic research, he initially struggled with a sense of alienation, he explains:<\/p>\n

\n

The experiment<\/p>\n

The experiment was carried out online using two games. First, participants had to choose between berries that were red or purple. The difference between the two colours (which could be adjusted) determined the level of difficulty. Afterwards, they had to evaluate the quality of their own performance.<\/p>\n

In the second game, participants were shown various types of fruit which they were asked to remember. After a while, they were shown two different fruits and had to determine which one they had seen earlier. Then, they rated how well they thought they had performed the task.<\/p>\n

The experiment is part of the study Distorted Learning from Local Metacognition Supports Transdiagnostic Underconfidence<\/em>, published in Nature Communications in February 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bbI think impostor syndrome is quite prevalent in academia. Most researchers are affected by it at some point, because it often takes two or three years for a breakthrough to happen. During that time, they might not get any feedback that helps them believe in themselves. Plus, you’re surrounded by people who know a lot \u2014 and that can really hurt your self-confidence.\u00ab<\/p>\n

This insight is not directly from the experiment, but from Katyal\u2019s personal experience. He moved from his home country, India, to the US to do his PhD \u2014 an experience that gave him firsthand knowledge of being surrounded by bright and resourceful people while he himself was still trying to find his footing as a researcher.<\/p>\n

\u00bbMost people probably experience impostor syndrome at some point in their lives. While I was in the US, I started asking myself what I was even doing there, because it seemed like everyone else was much more confident. That can really affect you \u2014 until you start becoming a specialist yourself and build up your own confidence,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n

Two things that help<\/h4>\n

Back in 2021, Sucharit Katyal began researching how people establish self-images. This led him to design the experiment, which has revealed two strategies we can use to gain a more accurate self-perception \u2014 and stop feeling like frauds.<\/p>\n

The first is to listen to others who are qualified to assess your performance. We shouldn\u2019t just listen to ourselves.<\/p>\n

The second is to focus on the times when we performed well. In other words, we shouldn\u2019t only dwell on when things went badly.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it\u2019s not always that simple. Some people are more susceptible to impostor syndrome than others.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe experiment confirmed that people with varying degrees of anxiety or depression are more likely to develop a negative perception of their own work,\u00ab says Katyal.<\/p>\n

Feedback is best<\/h4>\n

There\u2019s more we can do to fight impostor syndrome \u2014 and that\u2019s to ask others for feedback, and actually accept it. This could be from supervisors or fellow students.<\/p>\n

Katyal\u2019s experiment showed that this is the most effective way to combat impostor syndrome.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe most decisive factor in how we perceive our own performance is the feedback we get from others. It can break a negative self-image and give us an objective sense of what we\u2019re good at \u2014 and what we\u2019re not,\u00ab says Katyal.<\/p>\n

And for those participants in the study who suffer from anxiety or depression, the experiment revealed another encouraging result that even surprised Katyal: They benefit from feedback just as much as anyone else.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThey responded to both positive and negative feedback in the same way as people without anxiety or depression. One might have assumed they\u2019d be more sensitive to criticism \u2014 but that wasn\u2019t the case,\u00ab says Katyal.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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","name":"dsc_3397-sucharit-katyal_web","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":177419,"date":"2025-06-03 08:34:07","modified":"2025-10-16 08:31:30","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2400,"height":1600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-2048x1365.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3397sucharitkatyal_web-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Sucharit Katyal was born in India, educated in the United States, and is now a postdoc at the University of Copenhagen."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Feedback","text":"Akademikere kan f\u00f8le, de har bedraget deres kolleger til at tro, at de er bedre, end de er. Det skyldes et syndrom, som en forsker p\u00e5 Institut for Psykologi har arbejdet med i et eksperiment. Nu ved han, hvordan man kan byde det modstand.","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Most of us have probably experienced this: You\u2019ve delivered a solid performance. But you still hear a voice in the back of your mind whispering that you were just lucky \u2014 or that you even fooled others into thinking you\u2019re intelligent and competent. You are actually undeserving of praise.<\/p>\n<p>Psychology calls the phenomenon impostor syndrome or the impostor phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>The first time impostor syndrome was described by psychologists was in 1978. Since then, it has only rarely been the object of controlled and scientific studies, and researchers have seldom investigated the mechanisms that make some people feel like frauds \u2014 for no reason.<\/p>\n<p>But Sucharit Katyal, a postdoc at the Department of Psychology, has succeeded in developing a controlled experiment to do just that.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe tried to control for all relevant factors in our experiment, and we got all 508 participants to perform at the same level. They evaluated their own performance differently, but there was actually no real difference between them,\u00ab says Sucharit Katyal.<\/p>\n<h4>Rampant impostor syndrome in academia<\/h4>\n<p>He might have been inspired to develop the experiment based on his own experience. As a trained psychologist entering the world of academic research, he initially struggled with a sense of alienation, he explains:<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">The experiment<\/p>\n<p>The experiment was carried out online using two games. First, participants had to choose between berries that were red or purple. The difference between the two colours (which could be adjusted) determined the level of difficulty. Afterwards, they had to evaluate the quality of their own performance.<\/p>\n<p>In the second game, participants were shown various types of fruit which they were asked to remember. After a while, they were shown two different fruits and had to determine which one they had seen earlier. Then, they rated how well they thought they had performed the task.<\/p>\n<p>The experiment is part of the study <em>Distorted Learning from Local Metacognition Supports Transdiagnostic Underconfidence<\/em>, published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-025-57040-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nature Communications in February 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u00bbI think impostor syndrome is quite prevalent in academia. Most researchers are affected by it at some point, because it often takes two or three years for a breakthrough to happen. During that time, they might not get any feedback that helps them believe in themselves. Plus, you’re surrounded by people who know a lot \u2014 and that can really hurt your self-confidence.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>This insight is not directly from the experiment, but from Katyal\u2019s personal experience. He moved from his home country, India, to the US to do his PhD \u2014 an experience that gave him firsthand knowledge of being surrounded by bright and resourceful people while he himself was still trying to find his footing as a researcher.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbMost people probably experience impostor syndrome at some point in their lives. While I was in the US, I started asking myself what I was even doing there, because it seemed like everyone else was much more confident. That can really affect you \u2014 until you start becoming a specialist yourself and build up your own confidence,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<h4>Two things that help<\/h4>\n<p>Back in 2021, Sucharit Katyal began researching how people establish self-images. This led him to design the experiment, which has revealed two strategies we can use to gain a more accurate self-perception \u2014 and stop feeling like frauds.<\/p>\n<p>The first is to listen to others who are qualified to assess your performance. We shouldn\u2019t just listen to ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>The second is to focus on the times when we performed well. In other words, we shouldn\u2019t only dwell on when things went badly.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it\u2019s not always that simple. Some people are more susceptible to impostor syndrome than others.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe experiment confirmed that people with varying degrees of anxiety or depression are more likely to develop a negative perception of their own work,\u00ab says Katyal.<\/p>\n<h4>Feedback is best<\/h4>\n<p>There\u2019s more we can do to fight impostor syndrome \u2014 and that\u2019s to ask others for feedback, and actually accept it. This could be from supervisors or fellow students.<\/p>\n<p>Katyal\u2019s experiment showed that this is the most effective way to combat impostor syndrome.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe most decisive factor in how we perceive our own performance is the feedback we get from others. It can break a negative self-image and give us an objective sense of what we\u2019re good at \u2014 and what we\u2019re not,\u00ab says Katyal.<\/p>\n<p>And for those participants in the study who suffer from anxiety or depression, the experiment revealed another encouraging result that even surprised Katyal: They benefit from feedback just as much as anyone else.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThey responded to both positive and negative feedback in the same way as people without anxiety or depression. One might have assumed they\u2019d be more sensitive to criticism \u2014 but that wasn\u2019t the case,\u00ab says Katyal.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11489,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3399sucharitkatyalfacebook-1280x578.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177754"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177761,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177754\/revisions\/177761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}