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CONCEPT #623 ·VOL V The Toolkit · Cognitive & Behavioural PhenomenaLEXICON ENTRY

Impostor Syndrome

Discovered by Pauline Rose Clance, 1978 · Origin ↓

You feel like a fraud about to be exposed. Most competent people feel exactly this.
Category: SyndromeEvidence: ReplicatedUniversality: HighTier 1Type: Mechanismⓘ what these mean

This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.

Definition

A psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their own skills, talents or accomplishments despite objective evidence of competence and fears being exposed as a fraud. Paradoxically, it is most common among high achievers.

When it shows up

Despite objective evidence of competence; in high-achievers, minorities and people in new roles.

Failure mode

Self-sabotage. Declining opportunities because you don't feel qualified. Chronic anxiety in high performers. Underperformance as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Countermeasure

List your actual evidence of competence. Ask: "If someone else had this same track record, would I think they were a fraud?" Distinguish feeling incompetent from being incompetent.

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Related concepts

Also connected in the mapThe Dunning-Kruger Effect·The Overconfidence Effect·Worse-than-Average Effect·Illusory Superiority·The Pratfall Effect·Tall Poppy Syndrome

Origin

Pauline Rose ClanceDiscovered by, 1978Pauline Rose ClanceClinical psychology · b. 1938Named impostor syndrome - competence that never feels like enough.See in Origins →

Also revealed

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This entry has the mechanism and countermeasure. The full write-up - real cases, sources, the audit prompt - comes later.

Entry #623 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon