The Science of the Imposter Phenomenon: Named in 1978, Still Misread Today

TEST_YOURSELF · How well do you know this science?

1. 01 Who named the impostor phenomenon, and in what population was it first described?

   Freud, in patients with anxiety neurosesClance and Imes in 1978, in high-achieving womenBravata and colleagues in 2020, in medical studentsHarvey in 1981, in underperforming employees

   Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes coined the term in their 1978 paper 'The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women', based on clinical work with over 150 women who dismissed clear evidence of their own ability. source ↗

2. 02 The 2020 systematic review found imposter-syndrome prevalence estimates ranging from 9% to 82%. What best explains that enormous spread?

   Imposter feelings genuinely vary that much between countriesDifferent studies used different screening instruments and cutoff scoresOlder studies systematically undercounted menPrevalence rose sharply between 1978 and 2020

   Bravata and colleagues attributed the 9–82% spread largely to methodology: which questionnaire a study used and where it set the cutoff for 'having' imposter syndrome. The construct has no single agreed threshold. source ↗

3. 03 Is 'imposter syndrome' an official mental-health diagnosis?

   Yes — it was added to the DSM-5 in 2013Yes, but only for workplace contextsNo — it is a described phenomenon, not a listed disorderNo — it was removed from the DSM in 2020

   Imposter syndrome has never appeared in the DSM or ICD. The 2020 review treats it as a phenomenon that often co-occurs with depression and anxiety; the original researchers deliberately called it a 'phenomenon', not a syndrome or disorder. source ↗

4. 04 In Clance's 'impostor cycle', what happens right after a person succeeds at a feared task?

   Her sense of competence updates and the anxiety fades for goodBrief relief, then the success is discounted and the self-doubt returnsShe immediately takes on a harder task with more confidenceShe attributes the success to her ability but hides it from others

   The cycle runs: anxiety before the task, over-preparation or procrastination, then success — followed by brief relief, reattribution of the success to effort or luck, and intact self-doubt when the next task arrives. That is why achievement alone never closes the loop. source ↗

5. 05 What was the core argument of Tulshyan and Burey's 2021 'Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome'?

   Imposter syndrome doesn't exist and was never measured properlyWomen should hide imposter feelings to advance at workThe label blames individuals for doubt that biased workplaces produce — fix the systems, not the womenOnly executives experience genuine imposter feelings

   Tulshyan and Burey argued the concept, developed in 1978 without accounting for systemic racism and other biases, puts the onus on individuals — especially women of color — to fix a feeling that exclusionary workplaces themselves generate. The remedy they propose is changing the environments, not diagnosing the people. source ↗