Social Class and Imposter Syndrome: Evidence Across India and The U.s.

Authors:

Abstract: Based on two studies across culturally different countries we found that workplace imposter syndrome is associated with the social class origin of individuals. The feeling of intellectual phoniness which was first observed in high-achieving women has some of its roots in their childhood. The social class of individuals where they grew up affects their psychological well-being at work. We propose that high social class origin individuals have higher feelings of workplace imposter syndrome. A possible mechanism behind the relationship could be the parenting style. Parenting style has two dimensions: care/warmth versus indifference and control/overprotection versus encouragement of autonomy. Higher levels of parental control/overprotection have been linked to elevated impostor scores. Moreover, high social class origin individuals are supposed to experience higher parental control or overprotection which may lead to higher feelings of workplace imposter syndrome when they grow up. Across two studies we show that higher social class origin is positively associated with imposter syndrome. Study 1 (N=514) and Study 2 (N=344) provide evidence across the U.S. and Indian populations. Thus, our study seeks to identify one of the psychological challenges that individuals of high social class origin may face at their workplace.

Track: DEI

Keywords: Workplace imposter syndrome, social class origin, parenting style, subjective social class, objective social class