What imposters risk at work: Exploring imposter phenomenon, stress coping, and job outcomes

• Author: Lisa M. Penney,Holly M. Hutchins,Lisa W. Sublett
• Date: 01 March 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21304
• Published date: 01 March 2018

QUANTITATIVE STUDY

What imposters risk at work: Exploring imposter

phenomenon, stress coping, and job outcomes

Holly M. Hutchins

1

| Lisa M. Penney

2

| Lisa W. Sublett

3

1

University of Houston, Houston, TX

2

University of South Florida, Sarasota-

Manatee, Sarasota, FL

3

University of Houston–Clear Lake,

Houston, TX

Correspondence

Holly M. Hutchins, Human Development and

Consumer Sciences Department, College of

Technology, University of Houston,

110 Cameron Building, Houston, TX 77204

Email: hmhutchins@uh.edu

Imposter phenomenon (IP) has traditionally been linked to indica-

tors of psychological well-being with fewer studies examining the

impact on work outcomes. Using conservation of resources (COR)

theory, we examined how imposter phenomenon as a personal

demand contributed to emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction

among a sample of university faculty (N=310). Our results sug-

gest that individuals who experience high levels of IP deplete criti-

cal resources needed to avoid psychological strain in part because

of their use of avoidant coping strategies, and in how their experi-

ence of emotional exhaustion contributes to low job satisfaction.

That is, avoidant coping partially mediated the imposter–emotional

exhaustion relationship, and the imposter–job satisfaction relation-

ship is fully and serially mediated through avoidant coping and

emotional exhaustion. To help combat imposter feelings and

enhance job outcomes, we suggest the use of learning and devel-

opment interventions as active coping approaches (e.g., training,

coaching, and mentoring) geared at correcting how imposters attri-

bute success and failures, increase social support, and normalize

the imposter experience.

KEYWORDS

burnout, career development, coping, imposter phenomenon, job

satisfaction

1|INTRODUCTION

Many people can relate to Groucho Marx's infamous comment that he would not belong to any club that would

have him as a member. His self-deprecating quip is symbolic of the imposter phenomenon (IP), which is defined as

the internal experience of intellectual phoniness and the inability to internalize professional success despite

objective indicators noting otherwise (Bernard, Dollinger, & Ramaniah, 2002; Whitman & Shanine, 2012). This psy-

chological tendency among high achievers of “feeling like a fake”has regained attention since Clance and Imes's

(1978) oft-cited study on successful women professionals who struggled with legitimizing success despite achieving

DOI: 10.1002/hrdq.21304

Human Resource Dev Quarterly. 2018;29:31–48. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrdq © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 31

numerous professional accomplishments. In their study, the women overwhelmingly attributed their success to

external reasons (e.g., luck, mentors, and colleagues) and had a persistent fear of being viewed by others as unwor-

thy of their career status. Through subsequent studies, researchers have found that imposters (women and men)

typically underestimate their own ability, make inaccurate attributions about success and failure and live in fear of

being discovered by others (McGregor, Gee, & Posey, 2008; Parkman, 2016; Want & Kleitman, 2006). While a cer-

tain amount of self-doubt is normal, individuals experiencing IP often engage in maladaptive perfectionistic behav-

iors such as overpreparing, rumination, and overestimation of mistakes in an attempt to mask such concerns

(Dudau, 2014; Vergauwe, Wille, Feys, De Fruyt, & Anseel, 2015).

To date, the majority of research has focused on exploring trait predictors of IP, including neuroticism and trait

anxiety (Bernard et al., 2002; Ross, Stewart, Mugge, & Fultz, 2001; Topping & Kimmel, 1985), self-esteem

(Neureiter & Traut-Mattausch, 2016; Oriel, Plane, & Mundt, 2004), and extraversion (Ross et al., 2001). Researchers

also associated high IP with well-being outcomes such as depression and anxiety (Chrisman, Pieper, Clance, Hol-

land, & Glickhauf-Hughes, 1995; McGregor et al., 2008; Oriel et al., 2004) and burnout (Legassie, Zibrowski, & Gold-

szmidt, 2008). Although the cumulative research has helped establish the construct validity of IP within a

nomological framework, little is known about how IP may influence work outcomes related to employee success. In

fact, we are aware of only two studies to date that have examined IP in relation to employee outcomes. Vergauwe

et al. (2015) found that IP was negatively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational

citizenship behaviors; and Neureiter and Traut-Mattausch's (2016) study on working professionals who reported

high levels of IP engaged in less career planning and reported lower career striving and motivation to lead. Together,

these findings suggest that individuals who struggle with IP may be limited in their ability to fully develop their work

potential given their imposter concerns.

From a human resource development (HRD) perspective, the difficulties faced by employees struggling with IP

are particularly concerning because these individuals are generally regarded as competent and successful by others

(Crawford, Shanine, Whitman, & Kacmar, 2016), and yet they are more likely to experience emotional exhaustion

and low job satisfaction compared to their low-IP counterparts (Legassie et al., 2008; Neureiter & Traut-Mattausch,

2016). Because emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction are related to employee performance and success

(Demerouti, Bakker, & Leiter, 2014; Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2014), gaining a better understanding of

exactly why IP tendencies contribute to poor work outcomes will help HRD professionals develop strategies to help

employees address barriers to realizing their full work potential.

To that end, a key question we sought to answer is why are individuals who experience high levels of IP more

likely to become emotionally exhausted and dissatisfied with their jobs? Whitman and Shanine (2012) and Crawford

et al. (2016) both suggest that high-IP individuals may use avoidant coping strategies (e.g., denial, disengagement) to

get temporary relief of the residual stress of imposter concerns but fail to remediate the underlying source of stress

(i.e., the experience of imposter thoughts and feelings). However, neither study explicitly examined the coping strat-

egies used by imposters. Similarly, Vergauwe et al. (2015) found that IP was negatively related to job attitudes

including job satisfaction, and although they theorized that job satisfaction might be reduced as a result of imposter

tendencies to engage in avoidance strategies to address their imposter concerns, they did not explicitly examine the

role of coping in their study. We address this important gap in the literature by investigating the mediating role

avoidant coping plays in the experience of both emotional exhaustion and job dissatisfaction among employees

experiencing high levels of IP.

Our study is part of a larger mixed methods study exploring how academic faculty experience and cope with

imposter concerns. Hutchins and Rainbolt (2017) report the qualitative results in their critical incident study where

they identified specific events that triggered faculty imposter episodes and their resulting coping behavior. A key

finding was that faculty relied on avoidant coping to address their imposter experiences, but did not explore how

this form of coping influenced specific work outcomes. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to explore the use

of avoidant coping specifically and its mediating role between IP and both emotional exhaustion and job satisfac-

tion. In so doing, we expect to gain a better understanding of how IP influences employee performance-related

32 HUTCHINS ET AL.