A new study in The Journal of Questionable Ethics has shocked the world of professional psychology. According to lead author, Prof. Mayd Itup, the results could overturn years of commonly acceptance guidance. “Basically, when it comes to Imposter Syndrome, psychological researchers have been making it all up.”
Prof. Itup’s report is groundbreaking in that it took a remarkably novel approach to studying Imposter syndrome. Rather than studying those who reported they were imposters, she studied actual imposters. “The world is full of real imposters, from Twitter experts on X-ray chromatography to lawyers and psychologists who have never actually been Board Certified. Some of them are actually quite accomplished in their make-believe fields of study.”
Of course, identifying a population of real imposters was difficult. But once they were identified, a number of common characteristics emerged that were deeply surprising to both Prof. Itup and the field of human psychology as a whole.
“First, imposters rarely live in fear of being discovered. If they did, they’d just choose another line of work. Instead, the embrace the unrealized possibility of their being discovered as a validation of their skill – as imposters.”
Second, imposters don’t worry about the ill-effects of their actions on others: “Basically, they reassign blame for their mistakes to whoever let’s them get away with being imposters in the first case. They see themselves almost as natural forces, not responsible agents in their own right.”
Third, and most surprising, imposters report a tremendously high quality of life. “They are happy people, content in their make-believe roles and excited by the possibilities of each new day. They don’t tend to dwell on the negative. Again, if they did they’d just get new jobs.”
Prof. Itup suggests that those non-imposters who are dealing with Imposter Syndrome consider a completely different way of coping. Instead of using standard tools to convince themselves they aren’t imposters (e.g. stop comparing, impassively review what you’ve actually achieved, talk to a therapist etc…), she suggests they embrace the imposter role.
“I think make-believe imposters ought to recast themselves as incredibly accomplished imposters. The fact that they’ve fooled everybody validates this, and every day offers new opportunities for them to pull the wool over the world’s eyes. If they did this, they’d be happier and more confident. Oh, and wear glasses – that always makes you look smarter.”
At the time of writing both Prof. Itup and The Journal of Questionable Ethics are being investigated for possible academic frau
