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Humans

Having impostor syndrome may actually make you better at your job

People who are less confident at work were rated as having better interpersonal skills, suggesting there may be upsides to impostor syndrome

By Alice Klein

14 November 2021

鶹ý. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

People who doubted themselves more were rated as having better interpersonal skills by their supervisors

SFIO CRACHO/Shutterstock

People with “impostor syndrome”, who feel underqualified for their jobs, tend to make better employees because they compensate by striving to be likeable, empathetic and collaborative, new research suggests.

The term impostor syndrome was coined in 1978 by two psychologists who studied women with illustrious careers. These women and thought they had risen to their distinguished positions through luck or error.

These impostor thoughts have since been found to affect people from all backgrounds, although they…

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