Customer Reviews

If I'm So Successful Why Do I Feel Like a Fake: The Impostor Phenomenon

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A Ph.D. psychologist writes about high achievers' unwarranted fears of being discovered as less than they appear to be. Fascinating case studies are intertwined with rigorous research findings. An easy to understand explanation of how a fear can be a wish in disguise. Some accomplished and gifted people consciously suffer from a painful fear of failure ; but lurking in the unconscious lies an even more intolerable dread of penalties for success. For one woman, it was safer to worry constantly about failing and ending up as a bag lady than to lose family love by surpassing her so-called "genius" brother. Great interviews with high-achieving people from a wide variety of careers.

I recently found out that I suffer from impostor syndrome from a forum. I wanted to get more information about it, but the books that mention this are limited. I browsed through this book when I got it but couldn't concentrate because it is very dated. My specific situation is that I am a self-sustaining women with a reasonable high paying job in a field dominated by males. The book didn't focus as much on people in this situation or academia and when I tried to figure out what "type" of impostor syndrome person I was none of them fit. I had to put the book down because it seemed very dated, all this stuff about secretaries and the like. Books need to have more information for career and academic minded women who are the majority of sufferers.

A bit trite, no new insights for me.
I would have like something with more quotes and interviews.