To think not everyone experiences imposter syndrome?

[UmberDreamer]

A friend said today that everyone has imposter syndrome to some degree, but I’m not convinced. I get that a lot of people struggle with self-doubt, especially in new roles or challenging situations. But I think there are also people who feel confident in their abilities and don’t second-guess themselves. Am I wrong for thinking it’s not as universal as people say, or is this something we all go through at some point? Curious to hear others’ thoughts.

I don't believe men have it at all. More likely to have inflated ideas of their own knowledge and expertise. (ETA see: mansplaining, man with barely passing acquaintance with a subject attempting to school a woman who is an expert on it.)

If you mean women, I don't suppose we all have it, but many of us do.

I disagree...i know plenty of men that do have imposter syndrome. Some have inflated confidence for sure but unfair to say they don't at all. I think it's a healthy attribute of it doesn't hinder you that speaks to the idea that you're conscious of your competence or incompetence as the case may be.

It's a pretty well-researched phenomenon. Some literature suggests 80%+ prevalence. So yes. I think we can speculate that everyone experiences it at some point.

Plenty of men get it

I disagree. I work with several men who are really talented but who clearly feel like imposters from the stuff they say about themselves - one in particular is really held back by self-doubt.

Of course not everyone has it. It wouldn’t be imposter syndrome then!!

Both men and women experience it in my experience.

What do you think imposter syndrome is 🤔

I think it's possible that everyone could experience it at some point in their life

I don’t think I ever had it to be honest. I trained for four years for my job and then was pretty good at it and enjoyed it. I was a lawyer so there were times when I thought “wow I have a lot of responsibility to get this right!” but relied on my training and advice to make considered decisions. I certainly never felt like I shouldn’t be there.

I think people live in their own heads and their narrow world to much, how many times on here do we hear stories of or from op's themselves 'everyone thinks or is whatever'

Some people live in their own little world and don't have the intelligence to realise there is a big wide world out there with different people in it

I don't have it. I trust my judgement and I'm good at my job.

I don't have it. If anything, I am disappointed I am not further along in my career, given my hard work, qualifications and talent, and age.

I always thought other women said this looking for notice, faux humble, little old me in a good job. If anyone said to them, 'don't bother going for a good job'' they would be surprised and would not take kindly to the advice.

I think lots of people have it, but certainly not all.
I don't, I think I'm pretty good at my job & life in general.

Agree with @Edingril's point too.

I have never had imposter syndrome. I know I’m good at my job and entirely justify the position I occupy.

I’ve never had it either.

My DP absolutely has it. He a talented software engineer who worked his way up from the lowest rung of a ladder and earns decent money and could double his salary if he moved to a different firm but he doesn't really believe he deserves to be where he is and thinks it's just sort of gradually happened over time through natural movement. He actively tries to educate himself, read the economist etc to feel "smarter" or better informed because he assumes everyone else knows more.

Not everyone experiences it

It's common but of course not everyone has it. Some people are confident, some people just aren't challenged (I didn't have impostor syndrome as a teenager behind the till at Tesco). Or you can have it in different situations. I have social anxiety and mainly feel it when I'm meeting new people - they like me now but they won't when they REALLY know me

I think most but not all people probably have it at least a bit at some point in their lives.

I thought the research was MOST people experience it at some point, meaning a minority of people don't.

If you look at the people who clearly don't, quite often they really should! They seem to have an opposite problem, of misplaced certainty.

I think people muddle up feelings of uncertainty or being outside your comfort zone, with actual imposter syndrome where you can’t internalise your achievements and you lose touch with reality a bit. It happened to me for a while and it was pretty weird.

I did / do too. I don’t have it.

I've also never experienced Impostor Syndrome. I remember when I first heard about the concept (30 Jan 2012, it was all over Science Twitter) and read this blog post with increasing puzzlement that people might feel that way.

Of course this fact doesn't offer that much comfort. What if I'm actually a candidate for the Dunning-Kruger Effect (lacking the competence to correctly assess my own competence) but haven't realised yet ;) As @verycloakanddaggers points out "If you look at the people who clearly don't, quite often they really should! They seem to have an opposite problem, of misplaced certainty").

This 2019 article suggests a class dimension. "‘Impostor syndrome’ is a pseudo-medical name for a class problem: Let’s stop using this shifty term. It just encourages people to blame themselves for deep structural unfairness". I don't know if the evidence bears that out though as it seems to me that people from all backgrounds can experience it.

Jo