Y THE IMPOSTOR PHENOMENON REVISITED: EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORKPLACE IMPOSTOR THOUGHTS AND INTERPERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS AT WORK

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Tewfik, Basima A.
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/amj.2020.1627
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 988-1018
• 关键词: CORE SELF-EVALUATIONS; JOB-PERFORMANCE; gender-differences; OTHER-ORIENTATION; task-performance; MODERATING ROLE; ESTEEM; CONSTRUCT; POWER; validation

摘要

Prevailing wisdom paints the impostor phenomenon as detrimental. I seek to rebalance the existing conversation around this phenomenon by highlighting that it may also have interpersonal benefits. To identify these benefits, I revisit seminal theorizing to advance the construct of workplace impostor thoughts which I define as the belief that others overestimate one's competence at work. Incorporating theory on contingencies of self-worth, I present an integrative model that outlines why such thoughts may be positively associated with other-perceived interpersonal effectiveness and why they may not be. I test my theory across four studies (n = 3,603) that feature survey, video, and preregistered experimental data. I find that employees who more frequently have such thoughts are evaluated as more interpersonally effective because they adopt a more other-focused orientation. I do not find that this interpersonal benefit comes at the expense of competence-related outcomes (i.e., performance, selection)-a point I revisit in my future directions. When examining my theorized competing pathway, I find that, whereas workplace impostor thoughts do encourage those who have them to self-handicap-consistent with prevailing wisdom-such thoughts do not operate through self-handicapping to harm other-perceived interpersonal effectiveness. I conclude by situating my findings alongside prior work.