Are all impostors created equal? Exploring gender differences in the impostor phenomenon-performance link

• Published in: Personality and individual differences 2018-09, Vol.131, p.156-163
• Main Authors: Badawy, Rebecca L., Gazdag, Brooke A., Bentley, Jeffrey R., Brouer, Robyn L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accountability; Fear & phobias; Feedback; Gender; Gender differences; Imposter phenomenon; Impostor phenomenon; Impostors
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.044

Some individuals report feeling inauthentic at work, and fear being found out as a fake or as someone who does not deserve their status or reputation. Termed the imposter phenomenon (IP), this pervasive feeling has recently gained traction and recognition in organizational research. However, the relationship between IP and performance is still not well understood. We present two studies that explore the relationship between IP, performance, and gender under two different conditions: feedback (Study 1, N = 268) and accountability (Study 2, N = 250). Results indicate that male IPs react significantly more negatively under conditions of negative feedback and high accountability. These findings reveal a complex relationship between IP and gender which demonstrate that imposters' gender could potentially exacerbate the negative effects of IP on work outcomes. •Male impostors may have more severe reactions to performance stimuli than females.•Male IPs experienced higher state anxiety during a task than did female IPs.•Male IPs decreased their effort and performed worse than females when accountable.•Female IPs increased effort and did better than males when given negative feedback.•Concern over gender-norm violations may explain these relationships.