‘Impostor Syndrome’ Isn’t What You Think. And That’s a Good Thing.

Impostor syndrome — more accurately called the “impostor phenomenon” — is often used to explain why capable people doubt themselves at work, despite clear evidence of their success. But what if we’ve misunderstood key parts of the story, including its definition? And what if having thoughts that one might be an impostor isn’t entirely negative?

A new integrative review, recently published in the Academy of Management Annals, challenges long-held assumptions and offers a more constructive perspective.

Sean Martin, a professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, co-authored the paper with Basima Tewfik of MIT Sloan — who led the project — and Jeremy Yip of Georgetown. Drawing on nearly 50 years of research, the authors argue it’s time to reframe the conversation.

“When we dug into the literature it became incredibly clear, incredibly quickly, that the definition of the term ‘impostor syndrome’ was all over the place, and so were a lot of the findings,” says Martin, the Donald and Lauren Morel Associate Professor of Business Administration.

“A lot of people who were using the term were not talking about the same thing and were not using it correctly. They were using ‘impostor syndrome’ to mean things like cultural fit, or a sense of belonging, or feeling like an underdog. And they were assuming that if you felt like an impostor, it must be a bad thing.”

The paper argues that the core of the impostor phenomenon has drifted from its original definition. At its heart, it’s a belief that others overestimate one’s abilities. But researchers and popular discourse have increasingly focused on emotions or feelings, such as fear, shame and not belonging.

To restore clarity, the authors call for a “course correction” that re-centers the concept on the phenomenon’s cognitive origins. They propose a new term: “workplace impostor thoughts,” which Tewfik coined in an earlier paper.

These thoughts, they note, are often temporary, shaped by context, and, in some cases, may even offer unexpected interpersonal benefits.

How Impostor Syndrome Went Mainstream

Interest in impostor syndrome has exploded in the past decade, thanks to media fascination with the idea that some famous and successful people think they’re faking it.

Last month, for example, Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors star considered the greatest shooter in the history of basketball, said he suffers from impostor syndrome.

“I’m human,” Curry told CNBC during an interview. “Like everybody, you have doubts about yourself, you have impostor syndrome at times.”

Although impostor syndrome seems to be everywhere today, the concept dates back to the 1970s. Psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes first introduced it as “impostor phenomenon” after noticing that many high-achieving women struggled with persistent feelings of intellectual fraudulence.

Their 1978 paper detailed the phenomenon, noting it was particularly prevalent among women. They described it as an “internal experience of intellectual phoniness in people who believe that they are not intelligent, capable or creative despite evidence of high achievement.”

The concept gained traction with the rise of social media, which helped spawn a micro-industry of self-help books aimed at addressing impostor syndrome. It also became a popular topic at women's leadership conferences, with session titles such as “how to overcome your impostor syndrome” and advice on closing the confidence gap.

While Clance and Imes had first described the phenomenon as an experience, rather than a pathology, over time the word “phenomenon” gave way to “syndrome” in the popular press. The definition also grew to encompass a range of feelings related to inauthenticity and a lack of belonging or feeling like an outsider. This, the authors say, “muddied the conceptual waters, especially because this affective influx is relatively recent.”

Four Myths About ‘Impostor Syndrome’ — Debunked

After examining 316 articles and books on impostor phenomenon, the authors found many of the assumptions about the concept to be “ill-founded or inadequate.” They identify four misconceptions about the impostor phenomenon and offer a counter-narrative for each.

Assumption One: The impostor phenomenon is permanent.

The trio argue that many scholars treat impostor phenomenon as stable and trait-like when, in reality, workplace impostor thoughts are more accurately viewed as transient and situational. “They are thoughts, and you can experience them and then they can go away,” says Martin.

This is why lead author Tewfik, who has researched the topic for more than a decade, started using the term “workplace impostor thoughts” to more accurately describe the experience.

Assumption Two: The impostor phenomenon is more prevalent among women or those with marginalized identities.

While many assume the impostor phenomenon is more prevalent among women or underrepresented groups, the evidence is mixed.

“In my research, I’ve never found there to be a significant gender difference,” says Tewfik.

However, the review notes that gender differences do sometimes emerge in specific settings, such as medical school students. But working professionals, in particular, don’t exhibit clear gender differences.

This suggests that context plays a significant role in triggering impostor thoughts.

“This is why we have got to use the term ‘thoughts’,” says Tewfik. “And why we were so adamant about the need to get really clear about this terminology.”

Assumption Three: The impostor phenomenon is uniformly harmful.

Much of the research assumes that the impostor phenomenon is correlated with negative outcomes such as stress or decreased self-esteem. But newer studies, including Tewfik’s, show the effects are more nuanced.

In fact, Tewfik’s research shows workplace impostor thoughts can have advantages.

In her 2022 paper, “The Impostor Phenomenon Revisited: Examining the Relationship Between Workplace Impostor Thoughts and Interpersonal Effectiveness at Work,” she found that employees with more frequent workplace impostor thoughts may also be seen as more interpersonally effective at work and no less competent than those with fewer such thoughts.

Assumption Four: The impostor phenomenon creates negative outcomes through harmful patterns of behavior.

Many assume that impostor thoughts cause people to spiral into shame or avoidant behavior, but the research doesn’t clearly explain exactly why impostor thoughts cause outcomes, whether bad or good.

In fact, the review finds that most studies fail to directly test the psychological mechanisms behind the phenomenon, and where they are tested, findings are mixed.

How Managers Can Rethink the Impostor Phenomenon — And Help Employees Thrive

For Martin, who teaches and studies topics such as psychological safety, speaking truth to power and social class mobility, the paper has two big takeaways.

First, workplace culture. “If employees say they are experiencing impostor thoughts and are associating the feeling with negativity, that suggests they don’t feel safe,” he says. “What I hope is that managers think about the whether they have created safe conditions for employees to grow.”

Second, an opportunity for reframing. “People who are experiencing workplace impostor thoughts should recognize that this is not something that is going to last forever. It can pass,” Martin says. “It’s also a sign that others think highly of you.”

In other words, impostor thoughts might be less a warning sign — and more a sign that you're growing.

Professor Sean Martin is co-author of Workplace Impostor Thoughts, Impostor Feelings, and Impostorism: An Integrative, Multidisciplinary Review of Research on the Impostor Phenomenon (2025), with Basima Tewfik of MIT Sloan and Jeremy Yip of Georgetown. The review builds on Tewfik’s earlier paper, The Impostor Phenomenon Revisited: Examining the Relationship between Workplace Impostor Thoughts and Interpersonal Effectiveness at Work (2022).