Psychology|Cheating thinking is often internalized as a child, says the psychologist.
Certain kinds environmental factors can predispose to impostor syndrome, says the psychologist Nina Lyytinen. Impostor syndrome is a collection of different ways of thinking and acting, in which a person feels that they are deceiving other people into believing that they are more competent and capable than they really are. At the same time, he feels in a distorted way that he is incompetent and inferior to others.
According to Lyytinen, the idea of a cheater is often internalized as a child. Focus on performance, competitive spirit and comparison with other children can also teach the child to compare himself to others and fear failure.
“Contradictory messages also predispose to fraud thinking. A child may hear at home that he’s good just the way he is, but if he has a hard time at school, for example, he may think that I’m not smart, even though that’s what’s been said at home,” Lyytinen describes.
Psychologist The fairy tale of Pihlaja according to, a very critical upbringing can predispose the child to impostor syndrome, as it causes the child to experience feelings of inadequacy and the need to please. Impostor thoughts can also start in a family where the parent’s mood strongly determines whether things are going well or whether the child has acted rightly or wrongly.
Rowan according to international studies, it has been estimated that up to 70 percent of people suffer from thoughts related to impostor syndrome at some point in their lives.
“Probably for many, this is not a long-term thing, but for example in a new workplace it may initially feel like I don’t know anything here. Impostor thoughts are generally most common among young people, because youth involves a lot of transitions: from primary school to secondary school, from there to university studies and then to first jobs. Whenever the challenge level increases, cheater thoughts can be activated.”
Impostor syndrome has long been considered a problem for highly educated women, but according to Pihlaja, recent studies have shown that it is also common in men.
Pihlaja believes that impostor syndrome is most common in information and expert work and especially in tasks where success is difficult to measure. For example, in development and research projects, it can be difficult to know in advance what kind of result it is possible to reach or how well it is possible to succeed in general. The same is also true in helping work.
“If there is more diversity in the work community, there might be less fraud thinking. It’s easier to feel that you’re good if you can be good in many different ways,” says Pihlaja.
According to Nina Lyytinen, the spirit of competition and high expectations exposes one to cheater thinking in work communities as well. When a person constantly doubts his own abilities and fears that his incompetence will be revealed, he may constantly do more and more, which can lead to work burnout. Lyytinen says that impostor syndrome has also been linked to depressive and anxiety symptoms in studies.
Uncertainty and fear can prevent a person from applying for, for example, certain positions and advancing in their career, which can also lead to underperformance.
About the impostor syndrome getting rid of it starts with recognizing your own thoughts. Recognizing fraud thinking may have become easier in recent years, when the issue has been more prominent in the public eye, says Lyytinen.
You can discuss cheating thoughts with, for example, a supervisor or colleagues to find out what others really think and if there is a clear contradiction with your own thoughts. When you get positive feedback, it’s worth writing it down.
According to Satu Pihlaja, learning to get rid of impostor syndrome requires accepting the possibility of failure. You can try to get rid of the pursuit of perfection by giving yourself time limits, for example, how long it takes to do any task.
“Yes, many certainly recognize the idea that we should still polish, but most of us have learned the limit, after which the end result is good enough. People suffering from impostor syndrome often think that only a perfect performance is enough, which is of course a completely catastrophic idea in working life.”
According to Pihlaja, it would also be important to accept that cheating thoughts may be permanent and be activated again and again in certain situations, but you can leave the thoughts on their own and do not have to live by them.
Pihlaja hopes that people would be more courageous in seeking help for impostor syndrome. For example, many have an occupational health psychologist with whom you could go through the issue instead of suffering alone.
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