TED Talks Daily Sunday Pick: How to beat impostor syndrome | from Fixable
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Dec 14, 2025 Impostor syndrome affects nearly everyone at some point, leading to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. The hosts explore its origins and define it as a cognitive distortion, contrasting it with the Dunning-Kruger effect. They reveal signs of impostor experiences and suggest techniques like real-time performance logs to counteract self-doubt. Naming the inner critic and reframing failure as a learning tool are emphasized as steps to regain confidence. Finally, they introduce various impostor 'cousins' to help listeners identify and overcome these challenges.
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Imposter As A Distortion, Not An Identity
- Imposter experiences are cognitive distortions where people tell themselves stories that diverge from reality.
- Frances and Anne emphasize this is common, not an identity-defining illness, and it's fixable with clearer data.
Origins: The Impostor Phenomenon Study
- Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes first studied the 'impostor phenomenon' in high-achieving women in the 1970s.
- They interviewed over 100 accomplished female academics who felt like frauds despite success.
See The Opposite Bias To Calibrate
- Imposterism sits opposite the Dunning-Kruger overconfidence distortion.
- Recognizing others' overestimation helps you see imposterism as a bias rather than an absolute truth.
