“I’m Not Just Crazy.”: Exploring the Impostor Phenomenon in an Educational and Communicative Context

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to gain a better understanding of the impostor phenomenon (IP) and see which communication channels and instructional types are best to use when educating others on IP. Impostor phenomenon is the feeling of faking it in terms of professional, academic, career, or other life-area successes. The study also looked at correlations between impostor feelings and positive and negative workplace emotions and impression management techniques. Experimental conditions in the form of a survey were used to provide participants either an article or video, each with either a testimonial or research-based education. Findings suggest that participants in the testimonial instruction condition report higher IP scores than in research-based instruction condition and that the effects of channels tested were insignificant. The findings support the hypothesized outcomes in terms of emotion showing there are negative emotions related to work. Findings suggest IP is directly associated with ingratiation, exemplification, and supplication; indirectly associated with self-promotion; and unrelated to intimidation. Additionally, limitations and future directions are discussed.