Who Gets Imposter Syndrome, And How Do You Deal With It?
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Do you ever get that feeling that you just don’t belong? That you’re a fake who might be found at any minute? There’s a term for that -- imposter syndrome. In this video, we explore why this feeling exists and what you can do to fight against it.
*So what, exactly, IS imposter syndrome?*
Imposter syndrome is the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills. But, it’s not its own, diagnosable condition. You won’t find it in the DSM, which covers all the different categories of mental health disorders. That’s because it’s usually thought of as a symptom of a larger problem like depression or anxiety. Because of this, mental health professionals actually prefer the term imposter phenomenon.
*Why and how do people feel like imposters?*
Researchers call it the imposter cycle. You might successfully complete a project, but people with imposter syndrome push away any positive feedback they get. It wasn’t skill or talent or intelligence that created the success. It was over-the-top effort or sheer luck. That leads to self-doubt and feeling like a fake. And when it’s time to tackle the next project, the cycle starts all over again, trapping you in this feeling of being an imposter.
And imposter syndrome can be a result of factors outside of the individual, too. Like being part of an under-represented group. For example, a woman in a male-dominated profession or the first person in their family to go to college. Feeling a sense of belonging helps with confidence, but if there aren’t people around who look like you or sound like you or have similar experiences, it can be easier to feel like you don’t belong.
*How do you fight imposter syndrome?*
There is no silver bullet, but adopting a growth mindset can help. With a growth mindset, your beliefs about yourself aren’t stuck at a certain level forever. They can change and grow. Failure isn’t evidence that you’re not intelligent or talented. It’s an opportunity to learn and stretch your abilities. In the end, a person’s true potential is unknown. And that is kryptonite for imposter syndrome.
Talking about imposter syndrome with others can help, too. Remember - feeling like a fraud requires you to think that you’re fundamentally different and not as good as the people around you. If those other people ALSO feel like an imposter sometimes, you might be less likely to feel like an imposter, too.
SOURCES
What Having a “Growth Mindset” Actually Means
hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a...
5 Types of Imposters
impostorsyndrome.com/5-types-...
Prevalence, Predictors, and Treatment of Impostor Syndrome: a Systematic Review
link.springer.com/article/10....
Feeling Like an Imposter: The Effect of Perceived Classroom Competition on the Daily Psychological Experiences of First-Generation College Students
journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/...
Contextualizing the Impostor “Syndrome”
www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
First-Generation Students: College Access, Persistence, and Postbachelor’s Outcomes
nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018421.pdf
CHAPTERS
0:00 Imposter Syndrome Defined
2:17 The Imposter Cycle
3:15 The 5 Imposter Types
5:12 The Research
6:41 How Competition Affects Imposter Syndrome
7:51 Solutions
10:36 Info Recap
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#impostersyndrome #mentalhealth
Пікірлер: 64
Do you ever experience imposter syndrome? What are some ways that you overcome those feelings of self-doubt and anxiety? Let us know in the comments below!
A variation on “the soloist” takes the form of “I’m on my own here. If I don’t do it, it won’t get done.” It would have been good for me to learn of this entire phenomenon years ago.
7:59 Hey Miles - You're AWESOME! You're smart enough. You're good enough. And darnit: People LIKE you!
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Lol. Aw shucks. Swear we weren't fishing!
I had a breakthrough moment once when I was feeling some deep DEEP imposter syndrome when I was pulled into a high-level project. The people that pulled me into the project always came to me for my skills and knowledge. Pulling me into the project was just saving a step in the process. I'm the type that if I can't find an existing solution, I'll come up with a new one, and my peers realized this! It just took me longer to give myself the credit.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Sounds like you found a way to accept your own unique strengths and build on those - at your own pace. Good on ya!
My parents made sure I didn't feel confident. Meditation and being present help me realize none were calling me an imposter
Steven Li is going to be a super star! Keep it up Li!!!
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
We agree! Steven is awesome.
living in silicon valley trying to enter tech and everyone's dad is an engineer while both of my parents are college dropouts just hits different
I am so much The Expert, it's not even funny. I feel like I need to know absolutely everything about a topic before I am comfortable speaking about it. Sometimes that's helpful (because when I *do* speak, I'm generally coming from a well-informed place), but sometimes it's very much not (like when I objectively have enough information but don't *feel* like I have enough information). It's very frustrating sometimes!
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
As Albert Einstein said, "“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.”
Very timely. I have been trying to finish the same blog post for several months now. I think I’m the perfectionist.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Ah, yes. We have some of that type of imposter syndrome on the Above the Noise team. They shall remain unnamed.
Watching this video I tried to sympathize with you and consider when I might have experienced this phenomenon, but I'm not really feeling it. Maybe I've just not been abitious or successful enough to find myself on these situations. I'm usually pretty confident in my skills and abilities, so that's probably part of it too. This imposter phenomenon seems pretty foreign to me, but I guess it's still a good thing to be aware of.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
You never know when you might experience it, or friends or loved ones are dealing with it. Definitely can't hurt to know what it's all about! Thanks for watching.
@HumbertoRomero-q6t
7 күн бұрын
on r them reading the comment its true and also seeing that people are humans and every one always second guess them selves
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@epicm999
Жыл бұрын
XD
What if we hit on all five types in different scenarios? No wonder I feel like an imposter in nearly everything I do. Thanks for bringing this up as it makes me feel less like an imposter, all alone.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching - and you are definitely not alone when it comes to feeling any of these imposter types.
I experienced a bit of imposter syndrome when I was at Stanford.
Yes.. This is me in a nutshell! As a hopeless combo of Expert and Perfectionist I get lost in knowing everything, and never accepting praise. My most important advice is be conscious and alert when comparing yourself to others. Under the influence of impostor syndrome you never compare yourself to the failure and struggles of others, only their victories. Obscuring that they surely faced challenges of their own leading up to their victory, you hold your own failures and weaknesses up as proof of your incompetence. Its like comparing your morning sleepyfaced reflection to an instagram model, filter, ringlight and all. You're bound to come up short.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Such a good point about not noticing others' setbacks or imperfections. And I like the analogy to the IG model comparison. Thanks for watching!
Very interesting.
Among us in real life (sus, sus)
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Lol.
@epicm999
Жыл бұрын
REAL
Expert and Soloist for me. Although, I don't really struggle with Impostor syndrome anymore. What helped me was getting enough expertise in at least one area and then branching out from there. It feels ok not knowing everything about things that are not in your main area of expertise. That was not really an option at university because there were so many interesting directions and only so much time and energy. Now, in the job, it's way easier.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Good point that college can be overwhelming with all the choices and later in life you can find your lane more easily.
He should be more famous That would help a lot of people
My problem is that I have intelligent, privileged friends, who are good at recalling facts. Whereas I have physical, mental, and learning disabilities, so it takes me longer to do things, and I don't recall facts as well as they do. I just like to remind myself that, given enough time and the right tools, I can do just as well as they can, and I'm better at some things than they are.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
My guess is you have your own strengths and qualities your friends admire, or else they wouldn't be friends with you, right? So many different types of intelligence and talent out there - but our culture tends to focus on just a few.
@AlisterPuddifer
2 жыл бұрын
@@AboveTheNoise Thank you for pointing this out. :)
Jesus-forking-Christ! I have shades of all FIVE of those architypes!! No wonder I'm a constant ball of anxiety and stress.
I'm curious about how schools (or any system or program involving teaching kids) tackles this issue. Are teachers taught to avoid "accidentally" enforcing a fixed minset in their students, and to be aware of their own biases? Like, suspecting a student has limitations in a certain area or no limitations at all and subliminally communicate that to them? School should be enforcing a growth mindset, but I'm personally not sure all of them are doing a good job of actually making sure that's what they are teaching to ALL of their students any given day. Again, just curious!
I don't get it. Like, if I say out loud "I have impostor syndrome" what I'm really saying is "deep down I know I'm good but I still struggle to believe it for some reason". But the "REAL" impostor syndrom would be thinking that you REALLY don't belong there, that you REALLY aren't good enough. If you have real impostor syndrom, it implies that you cannot be aware of it. So when the example people in the video said "I have impostor syndrome" that just doesn't make sense to me.
Work and academic environments are big factors. Both contribute to unrealistic expectations, as well as fear of not “measuring up”. This means not only imposter syndrome, but dysfunctional support and assessment environments. You can’t be honest about struggles and mistakes in a group of people who pretend they never make them, and punish you for “weakness”. One is bound to internalize such an ethos.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Agreed. An inherent contradiction in our culture where so much emphasis is focused on status and productivity.
Perfectionist, Expert, Natural Genius and... Soloist? For being stubborn about not asking for help when there are clearly people who are able to relief some of my workload? Too many reasons to doubt oneself. Should have asked for help earlier... and more often too.
I have but I seen better I just have to get there in time
I am terrible at taking compliments on anything I do because of this.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Yep. Been there.
What if I feel like all impostor personalities
Can you be all 5 types at once? 😅
2:34 oh god
I'm surprised there isn't a type of imposter where the person is convinced what they do isn't impressive at all but others around them just haven't caught on to that fact yet. I don't really identify with any of the 5 types because they all imply that something productive or impressive was actually accomplished, whether that be by overworking or otherwise. Sometimes I feel like the things I accomplish are actually really easy and the people complimenting or admiring the things I do just haven't caught on to how simple and easy the things I do actually are....
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
I think the overall phenomenon is characterized by the suspicion that you are not really doing the hard or impressive stuff and people will soon find that out. The types are more about what you are striving or aspiring for, not so much what you think you actually ARE at the moment.
@JoeFromCincinnati
2 жыл бұрын
@@AboveTheNoise Oh okay. Then I guess what I most identify with is the expert. I'm an engineer and I feel like there is SO MUCH that I don't know and if others really figured out how little I knew, they'd stop thinking I was good at my job.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
@@JoeFromCincinnati it's wise to realize that there is always so much to learn - that's a growth mindset!
Neuro-divergent people who have to pose as neurotypical, often struggle with this. >> Tom's wife Pam
Imposter sydrome for writing episodes may be irrational for Myles, but if he has beard imposter syndrome he is delusional.
I fit on 4 out 5 types... Fuck...
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Oh yeah, there are a few of us with multiple overlaps
Live the dream, come and stream, 'til your follwing is just humongus! Don't be last to broadcast. When you play here, Among Us! Streaming, streaming, test your IQ! We're in the lobby, waiting for you. Streaming, streaming, what should we do? Who is the Imposter? Maybe it's you! What did you see when the body was found? Toast acting sus when no one's around. I was in comms, I was with AOC. Oh, don't you dare marinate me! I don't like the sound of this. Streaming, streaming, time to eject! Unanimous vote, Dr Disrespect! I've been banished without reason. There's no chance I'll concede. I don't need you, I'll be back despite you, with violence, momentum and speed. Champions, I have flown off the mountain. And you know I was standing at the tippity top. Yes, I climbed so high, I must've fallen into the sky. Oh well, this two-time will never stop. No matter what!
Omg i do all of them. 😅🤣
AMONG US
@epicm999
Жыл бұрын
DAMN! You beat me to it.
Yep. so IMPOSTER!!!! Totally fake! Big mistake. If you didn't at least smile a little bit...I failed and am myself an imposter.
Sus