They are successful high performers and to the outsider they appear to be capable, qualified, and skilled. Nevertheless, despite obvious evidence of their actual capacities, some of them fear that they will not be able to repeat their successes. They tend to attribute career success not to personal expertise but to excessive effort or uncontrollable factors such as luck. People with the impostor self-image or “imposter syndrome” are convinced that they are not as intelligent and capable as they ap-pear to others and that they have arrived in their positions undeservedly. They thus experience themselves as “frauds” or “impostors” and fear that sooner or later they will be exposed as such.This book examines the characteristics of the impostor self-image, how it can be identified, how widespread it is, how it develops, its links with other personality traits, and its effects. Finally, the question of countering the impostor self-image is explored, along with how people can arrive at a realistic assessment of their own skills, counter self-doubt, and achieve greater psychological well-being.

For:

• interested lay people
• academic specialists and practitioner