Competitive work culture fuels impostor feelings, studies find

The feeling of being an impostor at work is increased by a competitive workplace culture, which can be harmful to an employee’s well-being and career and threaten workplace diversity.

This new collaborative international project involving the University of Exeter, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, found impostor syndrome is not necessarily something personal to an individual, but can be fueled and reinforced by the work environment and how organizations are structured.

Dr. Christopher T. Begeny from the University of Exeter said, “We discovered that impostor feelings don’t emerge from certain individuals but from certain work cultures. They get triggered and amplified when organizations create a culture where colleagues are your competition—those who need to be outdone, who otherwise stand in the way of getting recognized and appreciated in the organization.

“These competitive work environments encourage unhealthy comparisons with higher-performing colleagues, leaving people feeling insecure about their abilities. We see these effects in both men and women, regardless of age, position, or background.”

Impostor phenomenon, also known as impostor syndrome, affects many people, often with negative consequences. At work, those experiencing impostor feelings believe others overestimate their abilities and fear being exposed as a “fraud.”

Until now this impostor experience was primarily seen as something personal and a result of an individual’s perfectionism or insecurity. However, this new research suggests impostor syndrome is not something people simply “bring” to their work and organizations themselves influence the development of impostorism among their employees.

Lead author Dr. Sanne Feenstra from Vrije University in The Netherlands said, “Many people, especially women and individuals with different cultural backgrounds, struggle with doubts about their abilities at work. But instead of teaching employees to simply ‘have more self-confidence,’ organizations should take a closer look at their workplace culture to address the impostor phenomenon.”