Impostor Syndrome and Employee Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Self-Doubt and the Moderating Role of Psychological Capital
The impostor syndrome occurs when individual are unable to internalize their competence and achievement, attributing their success to external or situational factors. Such attributional tendencies may hinder effective functioning in the workplace. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study examined whether self-doubt mediated the impostor syndrome and employee outcomes (job performance, work engagement, and career satisfaction) and whether Psychological Capital (hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism) acts as a moderator of the relationship between the impostor syndrome and self-doubt. Data were collected from 320 employees working across multiple sectors. Internal consistency reliabilities ranged from .84 and .91, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for impostor syndrome (α = .89), self-doubt (α = .87), job performance (α = .84), Work engagement (α = .90), Career satisfaction (α = .86), and for Psychological Capital (α = .91). The impostor syndrome was positively associated with self-doubt (r = .58, p < .01) and negatively associated with job performance (r = −.42), work engagement (r = −.37), and career satisfaction (r = −.41). Regression analysis indicated that impostor syndrome significantly predicted self-doubt (β = .58, R² = .34), job performance (β = −.32, R² = .18), work engagement (β = −.29, R² = .16), and career satisfaction (β = −.31, R² = .17). Mediation analysis revealed significant indirect effects of impostor syndrome on job performance (β = −.17), work engagement (β = −.15), and career satisfaction (β = −.16) through self-doubt. Psychological Capital significantly moderated the relationship between the impostor syndrome and self-doubt (β = −.18). This study extends the literature on the impostor syndrome in the organizational settings by identifying self-doubt as a key cognitive mechanism and psychological Capital as a protective psychological resource.
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