You did well — so why do you feel like a fraud? The psychology of impostor syndrome

Most of us have probably experienced this: You’ve delivered a solid performance. But you still hear a voice in the back of your mind whispering that you were just lucky — or that you even fooled others into thinking you’re intelligent and competent. You are actually undeserving of praise.

Psychology calls the phenomenon impostor syndrome or the impostor phenomenon.

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 — for no reason.

But Sucharit Katyal, a postdoc at the Department of Psychology, has succeeded in developing a controlled experiment to do just that.

»We 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,« says Sucharit Katyal.

Rampant impostor syndrome in academia

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:

»I 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 — and that can really hurt your self-confidence.«

This insight is not directly from the experiment, but from Katyal’s personal experience. He moved from his home country, India, to the US to do his PhD — 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.

»Most 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 — until you start becoming a specialist yourself and build up your own confidence,« he says.

Two things that help

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 — and stop feeling like frauds.

The first is to listen to others who are qualified to assess your performance. We shouldn’t just listen to ourselves.

The second is to focus on the times when we performed well. In other words, we shouldn’t only dwell on when things went badly.

Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple. Some people are more susceptible to impostor syndrome than others.

»The experiment confirmed that people with varying degrees of anxiety or depression are more likely to develop a negative perception of their own work,« says Katyal.

Feedback is best

There’s more we can do to fight impostor syndrome — and that’s to ask others for feedback, and actually accept it. This could be from supervisors or fellow students.

Katyal’s experiment showed that this is the most effective way to combat impostor syndrome.

»The 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’re good at — and what we’re not,« says Katyal.

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.

»They responded to both positive and negative feedback in the same way as people without anxiety or depression. One might have assumed they’d be more sensitive to criticism — but that wasn’t the case,« says Katyal.