At a glance
A 2020 review of 62 studies with 14,161 participants found impostor syndrome rates anywhere from 9% to 82%, mostly depending on how it was measured. It showed up in men and women and at every career stage. None of the studies tested a treatment.
Where the term came from
In 1978, psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes described what they called the "impostor phenomenon." It came out of their work with more than 150 high-achieving women over roughly five years, many of them students and faculty. Despite degrees, honors, and strong grades, these women believed they had fooled everyone and would eventually be found out.
Clance and Imes never called it a syndrome, and it isn't a diagnosis in the DSM. The pattern they described is crediting your success to luck, charm, or effort instead of ability, and expecting to be exposed.
How common it is
| Journal | Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(4) |
|---|---|
| Studies included | 62 |
| Participants | 14,161 |
| Literature searched | 1966 to May 2018 |
| Reported rates | 9% to 82% |
| Treatment studies found | None |
The review found it in men and women, from teenagers to late-career professionals, and often alongside anxiety and depression. Rates were especially high among ethnic minority groups.
Why the numbers are all over the place
A range of 9% to 82% sounds useless until you look at how it's measured. Most studies use the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale: 20 statements about things like fearing you'll be found out or feeling your success was a fluke, each rated from 1 to 5. That gives a total between 20 and 100.
Clance's scoring guide splits that range into four bands, but each study decides where to draw the line. Count everyone above 40 and you'll report a lot of "impostors." Count only people above 60 and you'll report far fewer, from the same kind of group.
Why college turns the volume up
A lot of the people around you were near the top of their class, so the comparison bar resets overnight. You see everyone's highlight reel, like the internship post or the person who always has an answer in lecture, and none of their behind-the-scenes. And in a new place, you just don't have much evidence yet of what you're capable of there.
What helps
The honest answer is that, as of that review, nobody had tested a treatment for impostor feelings specifically. What's below is low risk and widely recommended, and a few pieces borrow from approaches that are well studied for anxiety.
Start by naming it. Saying "this is the impostor feeling" puts a little distance between you and the thought, instead of treating it as a fact about you.
Then tell someone. The feeling depends on believing you're the only one, and one honest conversation with a friend, a TA, or an advisor usually proves otherwise.
Keep evidence. Impostor thinking writes off your successes as flukes, and a written record of what you've actually done, like a hype file, makes that a lot harder to do.
Check the facts. Ask what real evidence says you don't belong, and what evidence says you do. Weighing the evidence for and against a thought is a core technique in cognitive behavioral therapy.
Finally, compare yourself with where you were a year ago instead of with the loudest person in your seminar.
If self-doubt is affecting your sleep, grades, or daily life, your campus counseling center is a good place to start. In the US, you can call or text 988 any time to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.