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I've certainly sometimes found - and likely you may have, too - that I'm with a group that is smarter or more successful or richer. But it doesn't make me think I'm an imposter. It just makes me happy to be there.
Why Everyone Feels Like They’re Faking It
The concept of Impostor Syndrome has become ubiquitous. Critics, and even the idea’s originators, question its value.
Imes’s original paper identified two distinct family patterns that gave rise to impostor feelings: either women had a sibling who had been identified as “the smart one” or else they themselves had been identified as “superior in every way—intellect, personality, appearance, talent.” The pair theorized that women in the first group are driven to find the validation they didn’t get at home but end up doubting whatever validation later comes their way; those in the second group encounter a disconnect between their parents’ unrealistic faith in their capacities and the experience of fallibility that life inevitably brings. For both types of “impostors,” the crisis comes from the disjunction between the messages received from their parents and the messages received from the world. Are my parents right (that I’m inadequate), or is the world right (that I’m capable)? Or, conversely, are my parents right (that I’m perfect), or is the world right (that I’m failing)? This gap gives rise to a conviction that either the parent is wrong or the world is. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...ostor-syndrome
Perhaps this 'imposter' phenomena has grown prevalent since the advent of people engaging in online communities and social media where they are pretending to be something they are not or only representing their perceived notion of what makes them popular?
And much of which is probably not representative of what discerning people would observe in a face to face setting?
Never even heard of this and I certainly never felt like an imposter so I'm sure the title of "everyone" is wrong. Hard to give credibility to an article like this. Just because someone says something is true doesn't make it true.
Oh, no! Not another syndrome to blame behavior on.
Any writer that says "everyone" is wrong at least 99.9% of the time.
Well, I am superior to my sibling in every way, but was never acknowledged as such by my parents or anyone. I wonder if that is some kind of syndrome? HAHAHA
I'm kind of wondering how much of this is generational--I'm GenX and identify with imposter syndrome quite often. The general demographic of this forum is Boomers and maybe older, which many, as we've seen by the comments here, never question themselves to the point where that's the stereotype of people their age.
I've certainly sometimes found - and likely you may have, too - that I'm with a group that is smarter or more successful or richer. But it doesn't make me think I'm an imposter. It just makes me happy to be there.
[b]For both types of “impostors,” the crisis comes from the disjunction between the messages received from their parents and the messages received from the world. Are my parents right (that I’m inadequate), or is the world right (that I’m capable)? Or, conversely, are my parents right (that I’m perfect), or is the world right (that I’m failing)? This gap gives rise to a conviction that either the parent is wrong or the world is. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...ostor-syndrome
This left out the type I've most seen that feels imposter syndrome -- I'm surrounded by people who seem much smarter than me, yet I'm very successful at what I'm doing and get picked to lead the smarter people.
I've felt it at times when I was in college as well as at work. My daughter has told me several times that she felt that way in college and when she started working. She's felt surrounded by very brilliant people, yet she was elected president of her physics club in college. And has been promoted at work. She's felt "how can I be in charge of all these people who are smarter than me?"
The best answer I can give is "because she gets things done." It's one thing to be brilliant and sit around waiting for inspiration to strike and another to roll up your sleeves and make it happen.
This left out the type I've most seen that feels imposter syndrome -- I'm surrounded by people who seem much smarter than me, yet I'm very successful at what I'm doing and get picked to lead the smarter people.
And has been promoted at work. She's felt "how can I be in charge of all these people who are smarter than me?"
The best answer I can give is "because she gets things done." It's one thing to be brilliant and sit around waiting for inspiration to strike and another to roll up your sleeves and make it happen.
I remember reading once
The A students (brillant ones) are the employees of the B students
The C students own the small business
The D students are in charge of the major corporations.
The F students run the country.
Can't relate. Must be click-bait and/or a slow day at that media outlet.
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