Tag Archives: mentoring

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Have you ever felt like an imposter? Do you often look at your colleagues and feel like they are smarter, faster, or just generally better than you? Do you feel incompetent? Do you feel that you landed in your current position by luck rather than by skill or hard work? There is a term for that feeling: Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is a term coined by psychologists at Georgia State University, Pauline Clance, PhD and Suzanne Imes, PhD in 1978. Imposter syndrome (also known as imposter phenomenon, fraud syndrome, or imposter experience) refers to the anxious feeling that one has gained success and fame only by luck and coincidence, having deceived others. People with imposter syndrome consider their successes as resulting from external factors and thus think of themselves as imposters. That is, they do not acknowledge that success was made by their effort and performance, but rather by luck, timing or coincidence.

Imposter syndrome is not limited to graduate students! In fact, Hollywood actors, Jodie Foster, Natalie Portman, Emma Watson, and the COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, have all stated that they have suffered from imposter syndrome. At some point, they all believed that their wealth and fame were gained only by luck, that people were overestimating their talent and would soon discover their incompetence.

What are the causes of imposter syndrome?

There are many factors that contribute to imposter syndrome. After an initial success, sometimes people’s perceived expectations become higher, adding additional stress and anxiety around the potential of disappointing others. Other causes include how one was raised, emotional traits (insecurity, perfectionism, etc.), and psychological problems.

The high suicide rate of Ivy League students may also be attributed to imposter syndrome. Many of these students graduated high school at the top of their class, and are now surrounded by equally smart and talented individuals. Comparatively, these students are now average in a much larger pool of students, no longer the top students in the class. As they compare themselves to other students, their self-esteem may drop considerably and they may fear no longer being able to meet others’ high expectations. This fear of being exposed along with lowered self-esteem can lead to severe depression which can be linked to suicide attempts.

People with Imposter syndrome tend to continuously question their ability and try to become perfect, potentially even discounting the fact that they have already made great achievements. Fearing failure, they may use the imposter syndrome as a defense mechanism. Believing that they are incompetent from the beginning, in order to avoid the psychological trauma caused by failure. However, such reactions can cause anxiety, low self-esteem, and negative self-concept, which in turn tends to lower their actual rate of success.

How can we keep from falling into the trap of imposter syndrome?

1. Avoid perfectionism.
Perfectionists can be so strict on themselves that they may miss smaller achievements and successes. A perfectionist tends to set extremely high (maybe even unattainable) goals, and then experience shame or defeat when they do not meet these goals. This behavior can be self destructive. Remember, the final outcome of a situation is not the only thing that defines you. Make an effort to look at a situation in totality to be able to glean other positive outcomes. For example, if you worked on a group project that did not earn the highest praise from your professor, think about positive outcomes that you did achieve– learning to work well with a diverse group; effectively managing your time; or perhaps learning new material that you may be able to apply in other settings. Finding ways to recognize accomplishments big and small can go a long way to alleviating feeling like an imposter.

2. Put less stock in what others may think of you.
The most important opinion of you is YOURS! Others may have expectations of you that are unrealistic or may be reflective of their own insecurities. While a healthy dose of “caring what others think” is useful, putting too much stock in someone else’s opinion of you may be harmful to your own self-esteem.

3. Acknowledge and celebrate yourself.
You should acknowledge that your success is the result of your effort and action, and not by luck or good fortune. In other words, one’s success is made possible by oneself. Unsure of what you have accomplished? Try making a list. Include all achievements, big and small. Add to the list throughout your graduate school career. You will be amazed by how many things you have been able to accomplish. That feeling of accomplishment will help relieve self doubt or other insecurities that may arise. When you are confident about something that you did well, that positive energy can lead to future successes.

4. Ask for help.
Do not feel ashamed to ask for help. Asking for help does not show incompetence, but rather exhibits a desire for successful outcomes. Ask freely, as there may be other people who also do not know what you don’t know, and try to find solutions together.

5. Develop resilience.
Do not be frustrated if you fail. As we have learned how to ride bicycle after several failed attempts, we finally succeed and from that point forward, we know how to ride successfully! So try not to dwell on small failures or mistakes.

6. Secure individual private time.
If you compare the success of others to your own progress, or feel the need to meet the expectation of others, you may experience discomfort or uncertainty, which can lower self-esteem. In that case, it is important to find space to be able to consider and understand the source of our insecurities and organize our thoughts to recharge and focus on our positive achievements.

We all have vulnerabilities and the desire to be acknowledged. However, perfection does not exist in this world. So let’s reframe our thinking and change our lives to enjoy and celebrate our value!

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Hanna Park received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Columbia University and Master’s degree in Cognitive Studies in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She worked as a journalist for the Korean Psychological Association.

If Helplessness is Learned, Success Can Also be Learned

What is learned helplessness?

Sometimes, we set low expectations or do not try to seize new opportunities because we do not want to be faced with disappointment. While there may be reasons for such behavior, it can really limit the scope of experiences we allow ourselves to have.

When people experience failure repeatedly, they often tend to give up without trying, even if they have the ability to succeed. This is called “learned helplessness.” Learned helplessness is a phenomenon coined by Martin Seligman and Steven Maier while studying avoidance learning and formation of fear conditioning.

In 1967, at the University of Pennsylvania, Seligman and Maier separated 24 dogs into three groups. The dogs were put into harnesses and received electric shocks. In group 1 (escape group), dogs could end the electric shocks by pressing a lever with their noses. In group 2 (no-escape group/experiment group):, they did not have a lever and could not avoid the electric shocks. In group 3 (no harness control group), dogs did not receive any electric shock.

After spending 24 hours in harnesses, the dogs were placed in a different box in which they could avoid the electrical shocks by jumping over a low barrier to the other side. Here’s what happened: Dogs in group 1 and 3 avoided electric shocks by jumping over the barrier, but dogs in group 2 — the group that had no choice to avoid the shocks — crouched in the corner and received all shock. That is, the dogs in group 2 exhibited learned helplessness. Seligman found that after repeated failures of avoiding electric shocks, the dogs in group 2 learned that their behavior didn’t impact the electric shocks and the shocks were uncontrollable. Thus, the dogs gave up trying to avoid the electric shocks altogether.

Learned helplessness can be easily observed in our everyday lives. For example, if one studies hard for math exams but consistently does not earn good grades, that person may stop investing time in studying math. Or, if a person is unable to find a job even after applying and interviewing many times, they can eventually give up and discontinue their job search. Learned helplessness can be seen in politics as well. People are able to cast votes in elections but if they feel that there is no change, some will give up and stop voting. The thought, “Even if I vote, nothing changes,” becomes inscribed in their minds.

When we cannot control our external environment, we can fall into helplessness and stop trying to improve our situation.

What are the signs of learned helplessness?

Learned helplessness has three core characteristics:

When a person faces failure of learning, he or she shows the tendency to give up.
A person avoids one’s responsibility as the cause of failure.
When one’s responsibility is recognized, there is tendency to attribute the cause of failure to one’s lack of ability rather than lack of effort.

If one attributes the cause of negative events to one’s fault (internal attribution), one considers oneself more negatively than in the case of attributing the cause to environment or other people (external attribution).

The experience of repeated failure causes emotional, motivational, and cognitive harm. The resulting combination of signs include lack of confidence, depression or negative perception, lack of control, lack of persistence, and lack of responsibility. If such signs are neglected without proper treatment for an extended period of time, they could turn into disorders that threaten one’s social psychological well-being.

How can we overcome learned helplessness?

To overcome learned helplessness, we should increase the number of successful experiences by setting achievable goals. For example, if the goal is to learn a foreign language, set an attainable goal such as memorizing 10 vocabulary words in that language. Once this goal has been achieved, it will create a positive memory of success. These continued positive experiences will gradually build confidence. Later, you can set goals with a higher level of difficulty and gradually push away negative memories of failure. These small achievements can help reduce the effects of learned helplessness.

Another technique to overcome learned helplessness is to grow “failure resistance.” That is, the ability to overcome failure and maintain a positive outlook. To effectively grow failure resistance and escape from situations of helplessness, people can encourage themselves to think positively and reframe negative thoughts. For example, think about a failure as an obstacle to overcome in order to reach an ultimate success. This reframe helps to put negative experiences into perspective and will keep you from spiraling into helplessness.

If we do not give up, even in moments of pain and despair, a whole new world can open up for us. For example, persistence can help us land a new job that can lead to new, interesting paths — or lead us to friendships with people who initially did not seem to fit in our lives. These are completely unexpected experiences. But if we do not try, the opportunity for a variety of experiences will be drastically reduced.

If helplessness has been learned, success can also be learned.

Hanna Park received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Columbia University and Master’s degree in Cognitive Studies in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She currently works as a journalist for the Korean Psychological Association.

Research can be fun, I promise: A guide to getting undergraduates involved in research

We all remember how overwhelming our first few years of our undergraduate studies were. Psychology may have been our major, but there was so much information being presented in introductory courses, it was hard to know exactly what that word really meant. What did psychologists actually do all day? I know when I was a sophomore, I still thought that all psychologists were basically Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs– sneaking into storage units late at night to explore a killer’s wares, examining dead bodies for clues to how they reached their demise, having intimate and revealing conversations with a serial killer through 4-inch Plexiglas. Such action-oriented images defined psychology for me. It pushed any ideas of sitting behind a desk, performing scientific experiments and analyzing data, to the very back of my mind.

Luckily, I had a bunch of very patient, but very direct, mentors who introduced me to the value of research. And I am not talking about just the “oh, now I have another line to put on my CV” sort of value. We all can remember the first time we found a significant effect size with data we had personally collected and pored over every detail of. There comes a shining moment when you realize that you have added something to the field of psychology! My mentors taught me that all the hand-wringing that came before that moment was worth it, and soon “researcher” became a part of my definition of a psychologist.

Now, I am on the other side, working as the graduate assistant for an undergraduate research program. Graduate students have a unique connection with undergraduates in our department – although, like faculty, we are older and more experienced, it is often easier for the undergraduates to connect with us. We are also still in the weeds of academia, often closer in age, and spend a lot of time focused in on the same areas. So for the undergraduates in our lab, in the classes we teach, or just at department events, we can become a major mentoring voice. In essence, we have a choice – we can simply go about our expected duties, or we can push ourselves a little farther. We can reach out to undergraduate students to introduce them to the world of psychological science.

Of course, that isn’t always easy. Undergraduates face a lot of obstacles in regards to research, and no, it isn’t just the obstacle of eating so much ramen that they cannot get into the lab. Undergrads often avoid research because:

“Research” does not fit into their schema of “psychologist”.

Teaching these students, who may think of psychology a solely consisting of clinical work (or, in my case, forensic clinical work) how research can fit into the picture is invaluable. Speak to your undergrads about your work, and connect it directly to clinical experience. Bring current research into the classroom. Discuss with students your own experiences of doing both hands on work with clients and future-oriented work with science. Eventually, the connection will click.

2. They think that they do not know enough and will make too many mistakes

Undergraduate students (and graduate students as well, honestly) may become stuck in the paradoxical loop that they do not want to attempt anything new for fear that they will not do it perfectly the first time, or that they will disappoint their superiors. As a student who has certainly made mistakes yourself (likely in the recent past!), you can be the one to break that infinite circle of passivity. Talk about your own mistakes, even if you are not directly prompted. Use them as teaching moments for that specific task, but also as a general teaching moment that no one is ever perfect. Mistakes often lead to the most valuable teaching experiences. And as for not knowing enough, remind them – research is for exactly that purpose, when we don’t know enough, we seek out the answer. You are learning as you go along, and this field is all about jumping in and get your hands dirty. The earlier you do it, the more you will learn.

3. It is an ambiguous concept.

Lots of what we learn in undergraduate psychology is concrete; problems are described and solutions presented. In research, you have to identify the problems, or areas of uncertainty, and hypothesize solutions. Simply coming up with these two things – a research problem and a hypothesis – can be arduous enough. And it becomes even more difficult when we realize that even the most well-thought out hypotheses do not always work out.

Encourage undergraduates to draw on what they already know, and then to take a risk. Research requires taking a dip into the unknown, which is inherently risky because it is uncharted territory. Being walked through the less-defined steps for the first time can prove to be a very helpful experience. Ask undergrads to act as research assistants for your projects, and have them do more than just data collecting. Introduce them to how you came up with the research question, the IRB approval process, show them the write-up. If possible, invite them to come to conferences with you so that they can get a taste of it (and get some free vendor pens). Be the guide for the first leg of this uncharted journey, but then step back once the journey has begun. The students will realize that their risk can reap reward.

4. They do not know how to ask for guidance

Often, even if an undergraduate student is ready to integrate research into their life and jump into a pool of potential mistakes and ambiguity, they may not know how to ask for help. As graduate students, you can be an enormously helpful resource. Be inviting to undergraduates that want to come to your labs. Encourage undergraduates in your classes to speak with you after class if they are interested in research, and be willing (or knowledgeable about other labs where you can refer them) to refer them based on their topic of interest.

Today’s undergraduates will be our future lab partners, classmates, and eventual colleagues. It is important that we begin to build their foundation of science from the very beginning – science is an integral part of moving psychology from the past into the present, to make treatments more effective, and to make lives better. After all, Clarice Starling may have had all of the action sequences, but she may have never solved the case of Buffalo Bill without the scientists identifying the moth.

Editor’s Note: Fallon Kane is a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at the Derner School of Psychology. Her research focuses on personality pathology and interpersonal relationships, and personality change with age.

Dear Me, Future Psychologist. Yours truly, Dr. John C. Norcross

It’s time for the next installment of Dear me, future psychologist, a gradPSYCH Blog exclusive in which a prominent psychologist writes a letter to his/her 16-year-old self. We hope you enjoy these letters and glean some invaluable wisdom and guidance as you decide whether to enter graduate school in psychology, as you navigate the challenges of graduate school, and as you make decisions about your career and life.

norcross1 This letter is from John C. Norcross, PhD, ABPP, an internationally recognized authority on clinical psychology and psychotherapy. Dr. Norcross is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Scranton, Clinical Professor at The Commonwealth Medical College, and a board-certified clinical psychologist. He has published more than 400 scholarly publications and 20 books, including the 5-volume APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy Relationships that Work, Insider’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical & Counseling Psychology, and Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis, now in its 8th edition. He served as president of several APA divisions and international organizations, receiving multiple professional awards, such as APA’s Distinguished Career Contributions to Education & Training Award, Pennsylvania Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation, and election to the National Academies of Practice. For more info, please visit Dr. Norcross’s website.

DEAR-ME

FROM THE DESK OF JOHN C. NORCROSS:

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Dear Me, Future Psychologist. Yours truly, Dr. Alison Gopnik

Check out our latest installment of Dear Me, Future Psychologist, a gradPSYCH Blog exclusive in which a prominent psychologist writes a letter to their 16-year-old self. We hope you enjoy these letters and glean some invaluable wisdom and guidance as you decide whether to enter graduate school in psychology, as you navigate the challenges of graduate school, and as you make decisions about your career and life.

Gopnik photo really hi-res tiff (002) This letter is from Dr. Alison Gopnik. Dr. Gopnik is a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley, where she has taught since 1988. She received her BA from McGill University and her PhD. from Oxford University. She is a world leader in cognitive science, particularly the study of children’s learning and development. She is the author of over 100 journal articles and several books including the bestselling and critically acclaimed popular books “The Scientist in the Crib” William Morrow, 1999, “The Philosophical Baby; What children’s minds tell us about love, truth and the meaning of life” Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2009, and “The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the new science of child development tells us about the relationship between parents and children” Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2016. She is a fellow of the Cognitive Science Society and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

She writes the Mind and Matter science column for the Wall Street Journal. And she has also written widely about cognitive science and psychology for The New Yorker, Science, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Review of Books, New Scientist and Slate, among others. She has frequently appeared on TV and radio including “The Charlie Rose Show” and “The Colbert Report”. Her TED talk has been seen over 2.75 million times. She has three sons and three grand-children and lives in Berkeley, California with her husband Alvy Ray Smith.

DEAR-ME

FROM THE DESK OF ALISON GOPNIK:

May 2017

Dear Me,

Now by all the rules, you should be the one who is hesitant and uncertain, just starting out in life as you are, and I should be the one who’s figured it all out – I have the very unfair advantage, after all, of knowing how things will turn out. But, knowing you as I do, I’m afraid it’s mostly going to be the reverse. You are so sure about who you are and what you’re going to do, and most of my wisdom is a lifetime’s accumulation of doubt, even about the most fundamental biographical facts.

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