Understanding impostor syndrome

In short: Impostor syndrome describes the feeling of not deserving one’s own successes and of soon being exposed as a “fraud”, despite objective evidence of competence. It affects people in many professions and life situations.

In more detail: The term was coined in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes.

In detail

• Typical thoughts: “I was just lucky” or “They’ll soon realise I have no idea”.
• Prevalence: Especially common with new challenges, job changes or in low-diversity environments.
• Not internalising success: Those affected attribute successes to external circumstances, mistakes to themselves.
• Countermeasures: Consciously document successes and attribute them to your own performance.
• Talking about it: Many successful people report similar feelings, open exchange relieves the burden.
• Link to perfectionism: Often closely connected with perfectionistic thinking patterns (perfektionismus-und-sein-umgang).
• Professional help: For strong strain, coaching or therapy can support.