Imposters have goals too: The imposter phenomenon and its relationship to achievement goal theory

Both imposter fears and ability-avoid achievement goals are assumed to be grounded in fear of failure and a general lack of confidence in one’s abilities. This study investigated the relationship between imposter fears and achievement goals. College students (N = 135) completed the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (Clance, 1985) and several measures relevant to achievement goal theory. Both imposter fears and ability-avoid achievement goals were positively related to test anxiety and negatively related to confidence in one’s intelligence. Women expressed greater imposter fears than men and were also higher on ability-avoid goals. Using hierarchical regression, we examined the pattern of achievement goals that related to imposter fears for men and women. Among men, imposter fears were primarily associated with ability-avoid goals. In contrast, among women, imposter fears were positively related to ability-approach goals and negatively related to task goals. Further, among women, but not men, endorsement of an entity theory of intelligence was associated with imposter fears. Implications for well-being are discussed.