Why Smart People Feel Like Frauds: The Psychology of Impostor Syndrome and Its Hidden Benefits

Why Smart People Feel Like Frauds: The Psychology of Impostor Syndrome and Its Hidden Benefits

Incompetent people tend to see themselves as not just competent, but highly competent. So, at any rate, holds the theory of the “Dunning-Kruger effect,” previously featured here on Open Culture. But does the converse also hold: do highly competent people tend to see themselves as incompetent? That would seem to be an implication of what’s been called “impostor syndrome,” a persistent sense of inadequacy relative to one’s status or position, unsu…