10/07/2024
At the Digital Society School, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, we discussed Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism. This refers to self-doubt about one’s abilities and accomplishments, despite evidence to suggest the contrary. Those experiencing this phenomenon have the inward feeling that they are not as intelligent as they appear to be. They mostly refer to their achievements as luck. Although, impostor syndrome has not been classified as a recognized psychiatric disorder and there are very few empirical studies on this. Many famous and successful people such as Albert Einstein, Jodie Foster, John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou, Neil Armstrong and Meryl Streep (Hooper, 2012; Goldhill, 2016; Buckland, 2017; Mishunov, 2017) have suffered from this syndrome, which was first identified by psychologists in 1978 (Clance & Imes, 1978; Buckland, 2017). Pauline Rose Clance (2017), an Atlanta psychologist, even developed a test to measure where a person fits on the impostor scale. The Impostor Syndrome incorporates self-doubt. Outside academic literature, impostor syndrome has become widely discussed, especially in the context of achievement in the workplace. In our discussion at the Digital Society School, most discussants pointed at individuals’ backgrounds, race, colour, previous experiences, opinion of others, self-concept amongst others as the root causes of impostor syndrome. I will be working with other intellectuals on how we could deploy bibliotherapy and cinematherapy to mitigate this syndrome.
