Mental health in the work environment is one of the most important elements and one that has received the most attention in recent years due to its consequences and how it can decisively affect the performance of a worker, manager or any member of a company. Within the vast world that unites work and psychology, more and more people are hearing about a disorder that is suffered in silence and can torment the sufferer to extreme limits: the impostor syndrome.
This phenomenon is spreading more and more in our society, and even successful and famous personalities such as the singer Dani MartÃn, have recently recognized that they suffer from it. Although many fail to catalog or identify it, the truth is that they feel its consequences. And it is that one of the most outstanding factors of the impostor syndrome is that it has a gender: it affects women more and contributes to inequality throughout its process.
“Basically, it is a phenomenon characterized by the appearance of irrational negative thoughts about the merits achieved (considered unfair) and with the capacity that we have to be carrying out an activity (for example, speaking in public about a subject or occupying a position of importance in an organization)â€, explains MartÃn Sánchez-Gómez, professor of the Degree in Psychology at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR).
In addition, he warns that “it is something that we can all feel” at some point in our lives: “It happens to me quite frequently. I have been researching emotional intelligence for almost 10 years and teaching classes at various universities for more than 5 â€, he acknowledges.
“There are still days when putting myself in front of other people I think ‘Aren’t there people more prepared than me to do this?’, ‘Are they going to listen carefully or will they think I’m just a 30-year-old kid who hasn’t left the university?’â€, explains the professor, demonstrating that despite identifying this disorder and having studied it, it can also affect him.
This supposed relationship between personal successes and mentally generated chance has disastrous consequences for those who suffer it: “It makes them believe that they are not up to the task and can lead to unpleasant feelings associated with fraud or injustice, related to the low acceptance of the merit obtained as a result of their work and effortâ€, warns the professor.
What does not escape those who have studied impostor syndrome is that it affects more women. A report commissioned by Access Commercial Finance, in the United Kingdom, confirmed that women are 18% more likely to suffer from it than men, something that Sánchez-Gómez corroborates: “I find it curious to see this syndrome in people around me relatively frequently , most of them women experts in their subjects and with very high capacitiesâ€, she highlights.
Although it is complex to establish the reason for this trend, the psychology expert considers these factors: “Without a doubt, the causes of this are multiple, such as lack of self-esteem and insecurity. Not in vain, many of them have their origin in the way in which we have grown and the references that we have hadâ€, education being essential from a young age, which in many cases positions boys in a profile of courage and competitiveness compared to girls. , which are educated to have a more discreet position.
Interestingly, MartÃn Sánchez-Gómez identifies a phenomenon that is practically the opposite of impostor syndrome: “I don’t see this feeling in people who barely know a subject, but they talk to you about it in a convinced and almost arrogant way. As Dunning and Kruger have already proposed, I imagine that the incompetent tend to overestimate their ability, while the experts are aware of everything they still need to know.
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