Feelings of Fraud among High Achieving Women in Turkey: Prevalence and Demographic Risk Factors of the Impostor Phenomenon

The Impostor Phenomenon is defined as the inability of individuals to internalize their achievements, believing they are fraudulent. The first aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of the Impostor Phenomenon in women in Turkey. The second aim of the present study is to describe the demographic risk factors of the Impostor Phenomenon. A total of 677 women who work or are undergraduate / graduate students in one of Turkey's four metropolitan cities (Ankara, Bursa, Istanbul, and Izmir) participated in the research. The snowball sampling technique was used for data collection. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 65 years (Mage = 31.36, SD = 9.67). The Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale was used to measure the Impostor Phenomenon, and the Demographic Information Form was used to collect demographic characteristics. The findings showed that 65.73% of the participants had feelings of fraud at least at a moderate level. About 3% of them suffered from the Impostor Phenomenon intensely. In addition, it was found that the Impostor Phenomenon increased as age and duration of occupation decreased. When age was controlled for, it was revealed that low socio-economic status, postgraduate studentship, and postgraduate degree were associated with increased Impostor Phenomenon levels. These findings are discussed in light of the literature on the Impostor Phenomenon and mental health.