What is imposter syndrome and how can you combat it? - Elizabeth Cox

翻译人员: Riley WANG 校对人员: Zitong Wang

Even after writing eleven books and winning several prestigious awards,

即便写出了11本书， 获得了数个著名奖项，

Maya Angelou couldn’t escape the nagging doubt

马娅·安杰卢仍被疑虑困扰。

that she hadn’t really earned her accomplishments.

面对这些成就， 她当之有愧。

Albert Einstein experienced something similar:

爱因斯坦也有相似经历：

he described himself as an “involuntary swindler”

他把自己成为“无意的骗子”，

whose work didn’t deserve as much attention as it had received.

认为自己的工作 不值得获得如此多的关注。

Accomplishments at the level of Angelou’s or Einstein’s are rare,

少有人能像安杰卢和爱因斯坦一样 取得如此高的成就，

but their feeling of fraudulence is extremely common.

但是认为自己欺骗了别人 的感受却相当普遍。

Why can’t so many of us shake feelings

为什么有如此多的人

that we haven’t earned our accomplishments,

认为自己配不上取得的成就，

or that our ideas and skills aren’t worthy of others’ attention?

或是觉得自己的想法和技能 并不值得他人关注。

Psychologist Pauline Rose Clance was the first to study

心理学家保琳·萝丝·克兰斯

率先开始研究这种 没头绪的不安感。

this unwarranted sense of insecurity.

In her work as a therapist,

在做心理咨询师期间，

she noticed many of her undergraduate patients shared a concern:

她发现许多大学生咨询者 都有这样的担心：

though they had high grades,

即便他们都取得很高的分数，

they didn’t believe they deserved their spots at the university.

但他们认为自己达不到 这所大学的录取资格。

Some even believed their acceptance had been an admissions error.

有些人甚至认为接受自己入学 是招生管理的失误。

While Clance knew these fears were unfounded,

虽然克兰斯知道 这些担忧都是毫无根据的，

she could also remember feeling the exact same way in graduate school.

但她记得自己在深造时 也有同样的感受。

She and her patients experienced something that goes by a number of names--

她和她的父母都经历过

这种冒名顶替现象，

imposter phenomenon,

imposter experience,

或冒名顶替经历，

and imposter syndrome.

以及冒名顶替综合征。

Together with colleague Suzanne Imes,

克兰斯与同事苏珊·因墨斯一起

Clance first studied imposterism in female college students and faculty.

首先对女性大学生和教职员的 冒名顶替现象进行了研究。

Their work established pervasive feelings of fraudulence in this group.

研究发现这部分人群中 广泛存在欺骗他人心理。

Since that first study,

自第一项研究以来，

the same thing has been established across gender,

同样的研究也在跨性别、

race,

种族、

age,

年龄、

and a huge range of occupations,

和跨职业领域进行。

though it may be more prevalent and disproportionately affect

但在弱势群体和贫穷人群中

the experiences of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups.

这种症状更为普遍，也影响更大。

To call it a syndrome is to downplay how universal it is.

若要将其称为一种综合征， 则需要淡化其广泛性。

It's not a disease or an abnormality,

它并非一种疾病或是异常特征，

and it isn’t necessarily tied to depression,

它也未必与抑郁、

anxiety,

焦虑、

or self-esteem.

或自尊有关。

Where do these feelings of fraudulence come from?

这种欺骗他人的感觉 来自于何处？

People who are highly skilled or accomplished

能力杰出或成就非凡的人

tend to think others are just as skilled.

倾向于认为他人 与自己拥有同样的技能水平。

This can spiral into feelings that they don’t deserve accolades

这会进一步让他们认为

自己不应得到 其他人所没有的荣誉与机会。

and opportunities over other people.

And as Angelou and Einstein experienced,

安杰卢和爱因斯坦都有此经历，

there’s often no threshold of accomplishment

说明即便成就再高

that puts these feelings to rest.

也无法使这种感觉停止。

Feelings of imposterism aren’t restricted to highly skilled individuals, either.

并非只有能力杰出者才有此感受。

Everyone is susceptible to a phenomenon known as pluralistic ignorance,

每个人都会受到 名为“多数无知”现象的影响，

where we each doubt ourselves privately,

即人们私下怀疑自己的能力，

but believe we’re alone in thinking that way

但因为没有人会说出这种疑虑，

because no one else voices their doubts.

所以会认为只有自己有这样的想法。

Since it’s tough to really know how hard our peers work,

由于不知道其他人有多努力，

how difficult they find certain tasks,

也不清楚他们觉得某些任务难以完成，

or how much they doubt themselves,

或是他们有多么质疑自己，

there’s no easy way to dismiss feelings that we’re less capable

因此，并没有简单的方法

能够消除这种我不如人的感觉。

than the people around us.

Intense feelings of imposterism

严重的冒名顶替感受

can prevent people from sharing their great ideas

会妨碍人们分享自己的好主意，

or applying for jobs and programs where they’d excel.

或让他们不敢申请 自己擅长的工作和项目。

At least so far,

至少在目前，

the most surefire way to combat imposter syndrome

对抗冒名顶替综合征 最保险的方法

is to talk about it.

就是将它说出来。

Many people suffering from imposter syndrome

许多受到冒名顶替综合征的人

are afraid that if they ask about their performance,

担心一旦询问他人自己表现如何，

their fears will be confirmed.

就会证实他们的担忧。

And even when they receive positive feedback,

即便他们得到积极反馈，

it often fails to ease feelings of fraudulence.

通常也无法消除欺骗感觉。

But on the other hand,

但另一方面，

hearing that an advisor or mentor has experienced feelings of imposterism

听到提供意见的人或导师 也曾经历这种情绪

can help relieve those feelings.

有助于缓解冒名顶替感受。

The same goes for peers.

对于同龄人来说也是如此。

Even simply finding out there’s a term for these feelings

发现其他人都有这种感受

can be an incredible relief.

可以是一种有效的缓解。

Once you’re aware of the phenomenon,

一旦意识到这个现象，

you can combat your own imposter syndrome

你便可以通过收集回顾积极反馈

by collecting and revisiting positive feedback.

对抗自己的冒名顶替综合征。

One scientist who kept blaming herself for problems in her lab

一名科学家认为 实验室出现的问题都是自己的错，

started to document the causes every time something went wrong.

她开始记录每次出错的原因。

Eventually, she realized most of the problems

最终，她意识到大多数问题

came from equipment failure,

都是设备问题，

and came to recognize her own competence.

并开始认识到自己的优秀能力。

We may never be able to banish these feelings entirely,

我们可能永远无法 彻底消除这类情绪，

but we can have open conversations about academic or professional challenges.

但是我们可以 对学术或专业难题进行公开讨论，

With increasing awareness of how common these experiences are,

随着不断认识到 这种情绪的普遍性，

perhaps we can feel freer to be frank about our feelings

也许我们能够 更自由地表露我们的感受，

and build confidence in some simple truths:

并且通过以下几个 简单的事实建立信心：

you have talent,

你有才华，

you are capable,

你很能干，

and you belong.

你不是一个人。