Imposter syndrome as mediator and moderator between personality and mental health in Malaysian students

Abstract

We explored whether Imposter Syndrome functions as a mediator or a moderator in the relationship between personality traits and mental health outcomes among university students in Malaysia. A total of 755 students completed validated measures of personality (IPIP-NEO), Imposter Syndrome (CIPS), and mental health (GHQ-28). We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to estimate bootstrapped indirect effects for mediation and tested moderation by including personality x Imposter Syndrome interaction terms in SEM. Imposter Syndrome showed small but significant indirect effects linking both Neuroticism (β = 0.102, p < 0.001) and Agreeableness (β= -0.024, p = 0.014) to mental health problems. In the moderation model, the Conscientiousness x Imposter Syndrome interaction (β = 0.07, p < 0.001) and the Neuroticism x Imposter Syndrome interaction (β = − 0.04, p < 0.001) were statistically significant but small in predicting mental health problems. These findings indicate that although Imposter Syndrome showed statistically detectable mediating and moderating associations for some personality traits, the effects were small and likely of limited practical significance. Overall, Imposter Syndrome did not consistently function as a robust mechanism (mediation) or boundary condition (moderation) across the Big Five traits. Future research should identify mechanisms beyond impostor feelings (e.g., self-regulatory capacities) that may better explain the link between personality traits and mental health.