The impostor phenomenon in British university students: Relationships between self-esteem, mental health, parental rearing style and socioeconomic status

Sonnak, Carina; Towell, Tony

doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(00)00184-7

Cited by 139 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

109

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, King and Cooley (1995), using the Achievement Orientation Subscale of the Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1986) found scores on the Achievement Orientation Subscale significantly correlated with impostor fears, suggesting that an emphasis on achievement and on ability proven through competitive effort may be key elements in the genesis and maintenance of impostor fears. This finding accords with growing evidence that parental attitudes and messages about achievement have an important role in influencing children's views about achievement (e.g., Eccles et al, 1993;Marjoribanks, 1988Marjoribanks, , 1996 and on achievement outcome (Kurdek & Sinclair, 1988;Olszewski, Kulieke, & Buescher, 1987;Sonnak & Towell, 2001).…”

Section: The Salience Of Ability As a Criterion Of Self-worthsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Together these subscales accounted for 12% of the variance in impostor scores, suggesting that impostors are likely to have experienced an unsupportive, conflictual family background where communications and behaviours are rule-governed and restrictive. In a recent study, Sonnak and Towell (2001) found high levels of parental control and overprotection associated with impostor fears. Based on their clinical observations of high achieving women, Imes and Clance (1984) suggest that individuals who harbour impostor fears experience a pattern of parenting that promotes a view of intelligence as ''perfection with ease'' (Imes & Clance, 1984: p. 243).…”

Section: The Salience Of Ability As a Criterion Of Self-worthmentioning

confidence: 93%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Failure–avoidance: parenting, the achievement environment of the home and strategies for reduction

Thompson

2004

Learning and Instruction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: The Salience Of Ability As a Criterion Of Self-worthsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: The Salience Of Ability As a Criterion Of Self-worthmentioning

confidence: 93%

Failure–avoidance: parenting, the achievement environment of the home and strategies for reduction

Thompson

2004

Learning and Instruction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…We now know that the IP affects individuals as early as childhood, suggesting that it can emerge as a response to the family environment. Several researchers have already raised that family dynamic, parents' valuation of success and intelligence, and expectancies toward children may be significant factors involved in the emergence of the IP (Clance and O'Toole 1987;Grays 1992;Sonnak and Towell 2001;Want and Kleitman 2006). Yet, not much empirical work has investigated this issue and our future studies will address it.…”

Section: General Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relations between impostor feelings and upward and downward identification and contrast among 10- to 12-year-old students

Chayer

Bouffard

2010

Eur J Psychol Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The first objective of this study was to examine the presence of the impostor phenomenon (IP) among 740 students aged 10 to 12 years old. The second objective was twofold: (1) to examine the link between the impostor feelings and the propensity to use social comparison and (2) to examine whether this feeling is related to the processes of identification with versus contrast to others who are either doing better or worse than oneself. Results showed that, although generally of low intensity, the impostor feelings are indeed present in late elementary school children. A positive link between the impostor feelings and the propensity to use social comparison was also observed. It also appeared that, more than for others, children who feel like impostors were likely to differentiate themselves from their more capable peers while identifying themselves with less capable peers. The discussion focuses on the presence of the IP in late elementary children and on how the upward contrast and the downward identification may contribute to its development and maintenance.Résumé Le premier objectif de cette étude est d'examiner la présence du sentiment d'imposteur chez des élèves de 10-12 ans. Le second objectif est d'examiner le lien entre ce sentiment et la propension à la comparaison sociale, et le troisième de vérifier si ce même sentiment est relié aux processus d'identification et de différenciation avec une cible faisant mieux que soi ou faisant moins bien que soi. L'examen de 740 élèves a permis de constater que, même s'il est généralement de faible intensité, le sentiment d'imposteur est bel et bien présent à cet âge. On observe un lien positif entre le sentiment d'imposteur et la propension à se comparer, et, plus ce sentiment est présent chez un élève, plus il rapporte se juger différent de ses pairs qui réussissent bien et s'identifier à ceux qui réussissent plus difficilement. La discussion s'intéresse à la façon dont la différenciation ascendante Eur

show abstract

“…Individuals experiencing the impostor phenomenon have a persistent, secret belief that they do not deserve their status or position and that their success is not due to their own ability, but to external sources such as luck, fate, personal charm, or attractiveness (Clance & Imes, 1978;Sightler & Wilson, 2001;Sonnak & Towell, 2001). While impostors frequently have multiple external and objective validations of their achievements, they fear discovery and are convinced that they are less intelligent than other people believe them to be (Clance, 1985;Sightler & Wilson, 2001).…”

Section: Impostor Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, most research has failed to reveal significant differences in the degree to which females and males experience impostor feelings (Bussotti, 1990;Casselman, 1992;Chae, Piedmont, Estadt, & Wicks, 1995;Dingman, 1987;Fried-Buchalter, 1997;Imes, 1979;Langford, 1990;Sonnak & Towell, 2001).…”

Section: Impostor Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parentification and the Impostor Phenomenon: An Empirical Investigation

Castro

Jones

Mirsalimi

2004

The American Journal of Family Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines the hypothesis that individuals who were parentified as children are more likely to report impostor feelings in adulthood. A sample of 213 graduate students were given the Parentification Questionnaire (Sessions & Jurkovic, 1986) and Clance's Impostor Phenomenon Scale (Clance, 1985). Results indicated that parentification and the impostor phenomenon are moderately correlated (r = .37). No significant gender differences were found for either construct. With regard to racial/ethnic differences, no significant differences were found in parentification scores; however, Caucasians endorsed significantly higher impostor phenomenon scores than African Americans. The results suggest that the impostor phenomenon can be explained, in part, as a significant long-term effect of childhood parentification.

show abstract

The impostor phenomenon in British university students: Relationships between self-esteem, mental health, parental rearing style and socioeconomic status

Cited by 139 publications

References 31 publications

Failure–avoidance: parenting, the achievement environment of the home and strategies for reduction

Failure–avoidance: parenting, the achievement environment of the home and strategies for reduction

Relations between impostor feelings and upward and downward identification and contrast among 10- to 12-year-old students

Parentification and the Impostor Phenomenon: An Empirical Investigation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About