This wouldn't be so common if we didn't start telling every kid they're effectively a loser if they don't go to college. When I was at a university (2011 - 2015), I did have a version of imposter syndrome because I recognized, based on my math performance in middle school and high school, that I was not particularly intelligent, yet as soon as I got to college I was showered with A grades, awards, and special attention from my professors. Why? Because I could write decently well and was in journalism and political science programs alongside genuine idiots who didn't belong in any institution that's supposed to be committed to higher education.
And look, those people didn't really want to be there. They got nothing out of it. But they were told -- by teachers, by parents, by guidance counselors, and by popular culture -- that being smart is the most important thing in the world. So they faked it, and based on the sample of people I still keep up with on social media, a lot of them didn't make it. Four years pretending to care about academic subjects only to become bartenders and freelance photographers.
Coming from a small town to a major city uni, I always assumed I would find myself amongst people who were not only more intelligent and well read than I was, but self evidently so. This aha moment never materialized. No matter where I was--undergrad, law school, law firm, etc-- I always felt the same, like a person of above average intellect surrounded by people within spitting distance of my ability. Every so often, I hear opposite experiences, usually from women, who say that it was so nice to get to undergrad and be surrounded by so many BRILLIANT people, and how it was a little intimidating. One wonders what it must be like to be surrounded by geniuses.
"Many academics have actually distorted the meaning of imposter syndrome, defining it as insecurity regarding one's abilities despite being very successful."
Seems like a consequence of unearned admission, success, awards and (subsequently) promotions for some students.
I would also assume that the quality of the credential has in general declined over time, so students are (even) less qualified when they graduate, not to mention as a group less intelligent, while expectations from industry and society may still be high.
(Also, students who have passed through their years by systematic cheating, usually aided by extremely lenient institutions, <i>should</i> feel like imposters.)
Is this just the Better-Than-Average Effect (Dunning Kruger + Imposter Syndrome), where the top 25% underestimate their skills, and the rest overestimate the more unkilled they are? It is possible that Imposter Syndrome in minority happens because they are more closely matched with the white average in regards to IQ, while The Attitude-Achievement Paradox is likely because of overestimation of skills among minority individuals. If so, how can high IQ minorities be extracted from the high attitude crowd?
The "better than average effect" (BTAE, estimates correlate to results, but the magnitude of difference and is underestimated, with the top 25% underestimating their potential and vice versa) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31789535/
The "attitude-achievement paradox" (positive attitudes imply overestimated achievement in minorities, and westernized minorities have more positive attitudes regardless of achievement). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12564-018-9526-9
The problem here, is that these samples do not point to any p-factor traits or verbal tilt, and therefore it is hard to decouple the within-achievement difference from culture.
Also some other ideas: It seems that the previous paper noted that countries with high verbal tilt have stronger attitudes of competency, whilst those with high non-nonverbal tilt have weaker attitudes of competency?
Sus
This wouldn't be so common if we didn't start telling every kid they're effectively a loser if they don't go to college. When I was at a university (2011 - 2015), I did have a version of imposter syndrome because I recognized, based on my math performance in middle school and high school, that I was not particularly intelligent, yet as soon as I got to college I was showered with A grades, awards, and special attention from my professors. Why? Because I could write decently well and was in journalism and political science programs alongside genuine idiots who didn't belong in any institution that's supposed to be committed to higher education.
And look, those people didn't really want to be there. They got nothing out of it. But they were told -- by teachers, by parents, by guidance counselors, and by popular culture -- that being smart is the most important thing in the world. So they faked it, and based on the sample of people I still keep up with on social media, a lot of them didn't make it. Four years pretending to care about academic subjects only to become bartenders and freelance photographers.
Coming from a small town to a major city uni, I always assumed I would find myself amongst people who were not only more intelligent and well read than I was, but self evidently so. This aha moment never materialized. No matter where I was--undergrad, law school, law firm, etc-- I always felt the same, like a person of above average intellect surrounded by people within spitting distance of my ability. Every so often, I hear opposite experiences, usually from women, who say that it was so nice to get to undergrad and be surrounded by so many BRILLIANT people, and how it was a little intimidating. One wonders what it must be like to be surrounded by geniuses.
"Many academics have actually distorted the meaning of imposter syndrome, defining it as insecurity regarding one's abilities despite being very successful."
Seems like a consequence of unearned admission, success, awards and (subsequently) promotions for some students.
I would also assume that the quality of the credential has in general declined over time, so students are (even) less qualified when they graduate, not to mention as a group less intelligent, while expectations from industry and society may still be high.
(Also, students who have passed through their years by systematic cheating, usually aided by extremely lenient institutions, <i>should</i> feel like imposters.)
Is this just the Better-Than-Average Effect (Dunning Kruger + Imposter Syndrome), where the top 25% underestimate their skills, and the rest overestimate the more unkilled they are? It is possible that Imposter Syndrome in minority happens because they are more closely matched with the white average in regards to IQ, while The Attitude-Achievement Paradox is likely because of overestimation of skills among minority individuals. If so, how can high IQ minorities be extracted from the high attitude crowd?
There are two effects at play:
The "better than average effect" (BTAE, estimates correlate to results, but the magnitude of difference and is underestimated, with the top 25% underestimating their potential and vice versa) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31789535/
The "attitude-achievement paradox" (positive attitudes imply overestimated achievement in minorities, and westernized minorities have more positive attitudes regardless of achievement). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12564-018-9526-9
The problem here, is that these samples do not point to any p-factor traits or verbal tilt, and therefore it is hard to decouple the within-achievement difference from culture.
Also some other ideas: It seems that the previous paper noted that countries with high verbal tilt have stronger attitudes of competency, whilst those with high non-nonverbal tilt have weaker attitudes of competency?
https://georgefrancis.substack.com/p/autism-libertarianism-and-the-political-fringe?s=r
Can the principle of verbal tilt be applied to the general economy as well (IQ and GDP, verbal tilt and market fluctuations)? https://georgefrancis.substack.com/p/is-gdp-caused-by-verbal-ability-or-g-a-response-to-la-griffe-du-lion?s=r https://georgefrancis.substack.com/p/iq-and-interest-rates?s=r
When the impostor is sus
I can suffer from Sunday nightitis. How can I possibly do a job as difficult as mine. But come actually doing it on Monday and not a problem.