New Ways to Fight ‘Imposter Fears’

The Wall Street Journal:

Feeling as if you don’t belong—that you’ve landed in a fortunate spot by luck or by accident—can send anyone into a tailspin, from college students to corporate executives.

Imposter fears are common among men and women alike, research shows, and are blamed for an array of problems, from high college-failure and dropout rates to low female participation in math, engineering and science jobs.

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Drawing on decades of research, the interventions deliver “persuasive yet stealthy” psychological messages to neutralize crippling anxieties and doubts, according to a 2011 research review authored by David Scott Yeager, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, and Gregory Walton, an assistant professor of psychology at Stanford University. Students who participate in the exercises post better grades, lower dropout rates and in some cases, better health and well-being for as long as three years.

Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal