Labor market relevance of the impostor syndrome
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15170/MM.2022.56.02.06Keywords:
impostor syndrome, internal anxiety, work performance, feeling of successAbstract
THE AIMS OF THE PAPER
In psychology, impostor syndrome (also “imposter syndrome” is correct) is a cognitive distortion that prevents the individual from experiencing the success of own high performance. This mental condition was first identified by psychologists Paulin Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978, who initially thought it was a phenomenon that mainly affected women. Later researches showed that impostor syndrome affects about 70 percent of workers during their careers. In our study, we aim to understand how widespread the phenomenon is in today's Hungarian labor market, who is affected and, last but not least, how it affects the individual’s work performance and career. Another important goal of the research is to assess the negative or positive effect of the syndrome (stress) on individual work performance.
METHODOLOGY
The basis of our research was a national survey conducted in March 2022 among Hungarian employees. In the questionnaire, we examined the prevalence of impostor syndrome based on gender, age, and education level among respondents. In the research we also assessed, if the syndrome existed in earlier stage of life, if yes, then at what age and after how many years of work experience it passed away (if ever) and how the phenomenon affected the individual’s performance. Crosstabs test and statistical analyzes was conducted on the dataset.
MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS
Based on our aggregated results, we can conclude that the syndrome still exists in 86.4% of the subjects in our research and only 13.6% of them feel that it has disappeared after reaching a certain age and gaining professional experience. The phenomenon in the sample mainly affects women with university education, which means that they have a persistent feeling of internal anxiety. The intensity of the syndrome may decrease with age (and parallel to work experience) and may as a result have a mild to moderate effect on the individual. In the whole sample, the syndrome has a fundamentally stimulating effect on performance, and the blocking effect (if any) decreases with age.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The results of the research may contribute to a more detailed understanding of the occurrence of impostor syndrome in Hungary and its impact on work performance. As further research direction, it would be worth determining the specifics of sectors, geographical / settlement sizes, or job levels (managerial / non-managerial) by increasing the number of sample items, and also to examine the characteristics of the phenomenon among young individuals (under age 25).
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