The Art of Imposter Syndrome

Are you faking it, or making it?

Lately, I have become adept at a new technique. It’s called “self-judgment”.

I considered writing a post on how to best practice this tool, but somehow I felt that doing so would be redundant. There are some techniques we learn; there are others we fall into. “How to breathe.” “How to be in love.” “How to be addicted” (one I struggle with lately, as well).

These techniques are easy because they are constantly reinforced. Self-judgment is a form of self-monitoring, and at least in Western society, we learn to self-monitor from a very early age.*

*Interesting research on this (for science!) - self-monitoring and self-consciousness are NOT the same across societies. Based on one article, for instance, people in the US report higher levels of self-monitoring than those in Japan and South Korea, despite the fact that you’d think collectivist countries would have more pressure to conform.

Why do we do this shit to ourselves?

Self-monitoring is socially useful because it allows us to conform our behavior to others’. This raises the chance that we will be accepted by society, and not left to die or be eaten by wolves, which our brains apparently still see as a potential.

Image credit: ChatGPT

Some researchers suggest that high self-monitors are better at navigating social situations than low self-monitors are, and that they tend to be more outgoing and vivacious.

If you want to know your own level of self-monitoring, here is the standard scale.* Surprise surprise, I rate highly on it.

*Being as I am an absolute dork who is currently obsessed with psychometrics, there are elements of this scale I do not love - for example, in some places it plays with correlation instead of causation, e.g. using metrics like “I am an entertainer” to assess self-monitoring. The scale was revised by other researchers to correct some of these errors; I link the above version because it’s the most popular and also available to take online.

Self-monitoring and imposter syndrome

Credit: ChatGPT

These two concepts are linked. Imposter syndrome is the belief that you are secretly unqualified for or incompetent in something, even if it’s something you have studied and practiced for a long time. My favorite definition of it comes from Amanda Palmer, who calls it the “Fraud Police”:

The Fraud Police are the imaginary, terrifying force of 'real' grown-ups who you believe - at some subconscious level - are going to come knocking on your door in the middle of the night, saying:

”We've been watching you, and we have evidence that you have NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING. You stand accused of the crime of completely winging it, you are guilty of making shit up as you go along, you do not actually deserve your job, we are taking everything away and we are TELLING EVERYBODY.” - Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking

Does that sound familiar to your brain? If so, then, like me and countless others, you stand accused of imposter syndrome.

I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot lately. I’m entering a field where, by all accounts, I am an imposter…yet I am being told by others around me (especially those who don’t work in the field, hm hm) that my knowledge is sufficient. I am also being invited by academics to co-author papers, and told by researchers that my surveys are well-crafted. AND YET, I have no degree, and initially miss things that those who are trained see as obvious.

Where is the cutoff of being an imposter? How do we assess this? And, where are we correct?

Let me give you an example.

“You’re totally qualified to be a consultant!”

A story of realistic imposter syndrome