Self-Compassion, Fear of Failure and Imposter Syndrome in Working Professionals

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the complex relationship among self-compassion, fear of failure and imposter syndrome in working adult population of Pakistan. With a fast-paced working world, it is not uncommon for professionals to experience imposter syndrome – a low sense of self-worth and fear that they don't have the knowledge or skills needed to be an intellectual impostor. Self-compassion is a known psychological resilience factor against such distresses, however, how it works in collectivist cultures of the South Asians has been less examined. Due to this, this study had a quantitative, cross-sectional design that examined a mediation role of general fear of failure between the relation between self-compassion and imposter syndrome. This research was conducted with a large sample of 212 working professionals in a variety of sectors including Health care, education and information technology. Data was collected using the following self-reported questionnaires: Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS-20), Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI-5) and the Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form (SCS-SF). Pearson correlation analysis was used to interpret direct relationships between variables and the PROCESS macro for SPSS was used for determining indirect relationships. There were significant and negative associations between self-compassion and fear of failure and imposter syndrome. Moreover, there was a strong correlation between high level of fear of failure and imposter syndrome. Importantly, the mediation analysis supported the significant inverse relationship between self-compassion and imposter syndrome, where fear of failure significantly mediated this relationship. Understanding and cultivating self-compassion can reduce fear of failure, thereby reducing the strength of imposter feelings, and impact organizational well-being interventions.