I feel like a fraud and it depresses me: The relation between the imposter phenomenon and depression.

By L. McGregor, Damon E. Gee, K. Posey. 2008

213 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Are the negative thought patterns and self-doubt associated with the Imposter Phenomenon similar to the negative thought patterns and self-doubt that many individuals who have mild depression experience? If so, it is reasonable to believe that a relation between depression and the Imposter Phenomenon (IP) exists. The relation between the IP and depression among college students was examined. Results of a Pearson product-moment correlation yielded a positive correlation between the IP and BDI-II scores. Additionally, a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) using the IP scores and BDI scores as the dependent variables, with sex serving as the independent variable, revealed that men and women differ significantly on the combined dependent variables of IP and BDI scores. More specifically, the main effect between sex and IP score indicates that women have higher IP scores than men. However, the effect between sex and BDI was not statistically significant. Lastly, the implications of these findings are discussed.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9104dce81cbc7fe52f6b14452719d8e587309338

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In Clinical Psychology

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Ingroup Experts and Peers as Social Vaccines Who Inoculate the Self-Concept: The Stereotype Inoculation Model (2011, background): “As a case in point, the imposter phenomenon, a term coined 30 years ago in a study on high-achieving women, revealed that individuals may privately believe they are faking talent despite their objectively excellent performance (Clance & Imes, 1978 ; McGregor, Gee, & Posey, 2008 ).”
Predictors of Imposter Phenomenon among Talented Ethnic Minority Undergraduate Students (2015, unknown): “High-achieving URMs also report increased test anxiety, reduced confidence in their own intelligence, and negative psychological outcomes such as depression (Kumar & Jagacinski, 2006; McGregor, Gee, & Posey, 2008).”
Fear of Being Exposed: The Trait-Relatedness of the Impostor Phenomenon and its Relevance in the Work Context (2015, background): “other facets of Neuroticism, such as depression (McGregor et al. 2008) and shame (Cowman and Ferrari 2002), substantiate the importance of Neuroticism as a disposi-”
What triggers imposter phenomenon among academic faculty? A critical incident study exploring antecedents, coping, and development opportunities (2017, background): “…on identifying the prevalence of imposter thoughts and their significant correlates such as increased depression and anxiety (Chrisman et al. 1995; McGregor, Gee, and Posey 2008; Oriel, Plane, and Mundt 2004; Ross and Krukowski 2003), burnout (Legassie, Zibrowski, and Goldszmidt 2008) and…”