A Test of a Cognitive Appraisal Model of the Influence of Perceptions of Seriousness and Self-Compassion as Influencing Impostor Experiences

Abstract

Impostor phenomenon, the feeling of intellectual fraudulence, is commonly experienced by college students and may be predicated in environmental variables. If students feel that others do not take them seriously, they may feel like impostors. Self-compassion is theorized to protect against the effects of impostor phenomenon and negative environmental phenomena. Using cognitive appraisal theory, this study framed the environmental stress of not being taken seriously as possibly resulting in a negative primary appraisal. It was hypothesized that self-compassion and perceptions of seriousness would negatively predict impostor phenomenon. The authors also predicted that self-compassion would moderate the relationship between perceptions of seriousness and impostor phenomenon. Results of a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that increased levels of self-compassion were found to be related to fewer reported impostor experiences, ΔF(2, 194) = 76.23, β = –.66, p < .001, ΔR2 = .31, R2 = .44, f2 = .59, but perceptions of seriousness negatively predicted impostor phenomenon, F(1, 195) = 23.56, β = –.32, p < .001, R2 = .11, f2 = .12. Self-compassion was not found to moderate the relationship between perceptions of seriousness and impostor phenomenon, ΔF(3, 193) = 50.62, β = .11, p = .75, ΔR2 = .00, R2 = .44, f2 = .00. Self-compassion is likely a buffer against the effects of IP, but the connections between perceptions of college campuses and impostor features requires further exploration. Further research regarding how self-compassion and perceptions of seriousness influence impostor features in university students is needed. Limitations, implications, and future directions are offered.