THE TWISTED SIDE OF STARDOM, OR THE «IMPOSTOR» WITHIN YOU

Yevhenii Shapovalov. Antique Still Life II, 2019

Do you consider yourself an impostor? Don’t rush to answer. According to statistics, 70% of people have fallen into the trap of negative self-perception at least once in their lives.

They felt they didn’t belong, believed their success was a mistake, compliments were undeserved, and achievements were pure luck… Just a little longer, and everyone will see through them! Any moment now, their foolishness, incompetence, and unworthiness will be exposed!

This is how impostor syndrome manifests — and it can have serious consequences for your life. To free yourself from this obsessive state, the first step is to recognize and diagnose it.

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ARE YOU A BEAUTIFUL SWAN OR AN UGLY DUCKLING?

his question is difficult to answer not only for the average person but even for Hollywood stars and top businesspeople often seen as symbols of success in today’s world.

Among them, you’ll surprisingly find Oscar-winning actresses like Kate Winslet, Natalie Portman, and Jodie Foster. Emma Watson considers herself a fraud who doesn’t deserve what she has achieved. Penélope Cruz fears being fired for bad acting at the beginning of every new film shoot.

Charismatic Tom Hardy, regarded by many as one of Hollywood’s sex symbols, is extremely self-conscious about his appearance, seeing himself as «a freak with crooked teeth and a beard».

WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE IN HOLLYWOOD!

People who suffer from impostor syndrome include some of the world’s most prominent figures: former First Lady Michelle Obama, actor Tom Hanks, writer John Steinbeck, and even the great scientist Albert Einstein.

Business leaders are not immune either. For example, Mike Cannon-Brookes, one of the co-founders of Atlassian — a globally renowned software company — described the syndrome during a TEDx talk like this: «It feels like you’ve found yourself in a situation that’s beyond you, with no way out. It’s not so much the fear of failure, but the fear of being exposed and having everything taken away».

LOW SELF-ESTEEM ISN’T HARMLESS

Of course, this kind of self-assessment is highly subjective and doesn’t always reflect reality. However, as a compulsive mental state, impostor syndrome can significantly damage a person’s life, affecting their emotional well-being, personal life, and career.

Impostor syndrome is a mix of fear, shame, and guilt over supposedly tricking others into thinking you’re successful — without having put in enough effort or possessing the talent, knowledge, or professionalism required. But where does this strange syndrome come from — this worm of doubt that eats away at successful people from the inside?

DON’T ENVY THE STRAIGHT-A STUDENTS

The recognition of impostor syndrome came as a result of emancipation — when women began claiming equal rights, social standing, influence, and positions that were previously the exclusive domain of men.

For many years, women had to constantly prove that their success was well deserved. At the same time, these successful women themselves were not free from painful doubts and often invested far more emotional energy into their achievements than men did.

Impostor syndrome is, in a way, a «straight-A student syndrome» — the relentless self-doubt in one’s intellectual superiority despite clear accomplishments. In fact, the phenomenon was first discovered among high-achieving female students.

Back in the 1970s, while studying top-performing students at Oberlin College in the United States, psychology professor Pauline Rose Clance noticed that something was clearly off…

KINDER, KÜCHE, KIRCHE

Despite all the progress modern society has made in terms of emancipation and gender equality, our world still remains largely «male-dominated» and biased against female leadership.

The infamous «three Ks» (Kinder, Küche, Kirche — children, kitchen, church), which supposedly defined a woman’s purpose according to German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, continue to provoke deep internal conflicts to this day. How valid is a woman’s success in business, politics, science, or education when it takes place outside of these «three Ks»?

Clearly, many cultural traditions and historical figures were wrong on this issue — from the patriarchal doctrines and Sharia law to Leo Tolstoy and Adolf Hitler. Today’s women have proven that they can perform just as well — if not better — than men in any traditionally «male» position. But what do these women feel deep down? What is the price they pay for their success?

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IMPOSTOR SYNDROME DOESN’T CARE ABOUT GENDER

Even when it comes to impostor syndrome, women proved to be no worse than men. Or perhaps men turned out to be no better than women? Ever since Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes published their article «The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women», where the term impostor syndrome was first introduced, the condition has been identified in people of all genders.

A vast number of individuals — regardless of gender, profession, religion, or other differences — exhibit six core characteristics of the syndrome: the impostor cycle and growing emotional overload, the drive to be exceptional or the best, the superman/superwoman complex, fear of mistakes and failure, denial of competence and rejection of praise, and guilt or fear over personal success.

WE ALL COME FROM CHILDHOOD…

Where do these «neurotic impostors» come from — people who, of course, are not frauds in any real, legal, or moral sense? It turns out, like many things in adult life, impostor syndrome begins in childhood.

Say you had a particularly «smart» sibling you were constantly compared to — chances are, you may eventually develop a painful internal conflict. Spending your life trying to live up to a more successful family member can lead to a syndrome deeply rooted in fear of failure (or even success), perfectionism, procrastination, and workaholism.

THE FATHER FIGURE: FREUD AGAIN?

About 15 years ago, psychologists Julie Vaught and Sabina Kleitman conducted a series of experiments and discovered another source of this «neurotic impostorism»: excessive paternal control. In order to earn and maintain a parent’s love, the «impostor» tries with all their might to meet the family’s high standards — such as a father’s idealization of intellect. If a child doesn’t receive adequate emotional support early in life, they grow up constantly striving for achievements that always seem insufficient to them. The result: feelings of shame, inferiority, humiliation — and impostorism.

THE MANY FACES OF THE IMPOSTOR

The range of roles that impostors play to hide their self-doubt and internal struggles is vast. Psychologists have even classified them into five distinct types. First are the Perfectionists, who set such impossibly high standards for themselves that even minor shortcomings make them feel like failures.

Then there are the Experts — impostors obsessed with knowing everything. Terrified of being seen as ignorant, they constantly seek to expand their knowledge through courses, lectures, and trainings. Natural Geniuses are those to whom everything came easily in childhood. When faced with adult challenges, they assume the problem must be their own lack of competence.

Soloists refuse to ask for help, seeing it as a sign of weakness. And finally, the Supermen/Superwomen: unless they can prove they’re significantly better than everyone else, they fall into deep stress and anxiety.

XXX

If you’re overly self-critical and recognize yourself in any of the types above, don’t despair. The syndrome is not a sentence, and its signs are far from a pathology. Remember — even the great Einstein once felt like an impostor!