Testing the longitudinal relations between depression, anxiety, and the Impostor Phenomenon with the SOEP-IS data from 2012 to 2018

Abstract

The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) describes individual differences in self-perceptions of intellectual fraudulence despite evidence of capability. The IP relates to reduced mental health and the “Impostor cycle” suggests that the IP is interdependent with depressiveness and anxiety in a maintaining fashion. The present study used three waves of data (2012, 2015, and 2018) from the German Socioeconomic Panel-Innovation Sample in which 700 participants completed measures of the IP, depression, and anxiety. Structural equation models testing the temporal order between IP, depression, and anxiety support the notion of an Impostor cycle, with depression/anxiety predicting the IP over time (2012 → 2015) and the IP predicting depression/anxiety (2015 → 2018) in a serial model. Effect sizes are robust, with βs between 0.30 and 0.41. This is the first study providing longitudinal data from a large sample on the IP in relation to depression and anxiety using state-of-the-art analyses. The findings support the assumptions of an Impostor cycle and provide the means for future research on interventions targeting the IP.