Despite getting good grades, being praised for your good work or your professional achievements, have you ever felt that deep down you are a fraud and that it was all due to a stroke of good luck or pure coincidence? This is how the impostor syndrome is born, a psychological disorder that makes the patient unable to truly recognize all his successes and sees himself as a fraud in the eyes of others , as if the achievements he had achieved did not deserve them.
Fraud Syndrome or Imposter Syndrome, a term coined by clinical psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978 , is not yet described as an official mental disorder. As such, it is most often found among successful women and in academia, especially graduate students.
It is not a simple case of insecurity, but it is much more complex and is associated with a constant feeling of unworthiness of success, which can prevent tremendously capable people from progressing. Many think that if they were smarter they would have to put in less effort in their work, that it would be easier for them and others are even afraid of applying for a better position because they believe that they are not up to the task.
Imposter syndrome can be due to four main causes: sexual stereotypes (the weight / pressure of being a mother and having professional success, for example, among women), family dynamics during childhood (feeling like the “black sheep” of the family) , salary differences (especially for women) and the perception of success, failure and competition (demanding almost impossible goals).
