How Performing Artists Can Deal with Impostor Syndrome

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Successful professionals are frequently dogged by feelings of self-doubt, inadequacy, and ineptness. This experience is often marked by an intense feeling of being an imposter or phony who has somehow managed to fool others into believing that they are more competent, capable, and legitimate than they truly are. The impostor phenomenon has become one of the most common experiences of creative and performing artists I have encountered in the past few years.

I do not use the commonly used term syndrome, but rather the term phenomenon. Syndrome is a word that is closely related to the medical model and implies an organic cause, which I have found to be misleading. Phenomenon does not focus on the cause but on the experience that one is having which, in my view, is a more accurate and useful way of understanding this emotional event. I find the term impostor phenomenon to be a pragmatic way of describing the experience.

This experience of deep inferiority and fraudulence is common in the most successful and celebrated professionals. It was first proposed by female psychologists who assumed that it was more common in women than men. This assumption has not been supported by research, which has given us clear evidence that deep feelings of inferiority are a universal human experience, equally experienced by both women and men. Evidence does support that women are more likely than men to acknowledge and discuss their feelings of inferiority, however.

We have a long history of theoretical and clinical work in the area of inferiority that pre-dates the label of impostor phenomenon by half a century. This is the work on the inferiority complex described by the Austrian psychologist, Alfred Adler.

Adler's Individual Psychology has been a very effective tool in my work with creative and performing artists who wish to explore their feeling of being an impostor amongst real artists, waiting to be found out about their ineptness. These successful artists often attribute their success to luck or personal charm, rather than artistic ability.

Born as altricial beings, our survival is dependent on others for the first years of our existence. Adler argued that this initial dependence became a core aspect of our adult experience, and that a feeling of inferiority is a universal human experience. Not everyone recognizes it, acknowledges it, or discusses it with others, but it is a central aspect of our character.

Adler coined the term inferiority complex to describe the person who does not overcome the sense that they are not living up to their own potential. In fact, one who feels inferior to what they could be, without working towards it, sinks into a depression and general sense of despair. They actually feel inferior to their ideal self, not living up to their potential. When we are working towards our ideal self, we feel truly alive.

It is often the case that those who overcompensate for deep feelings of inferiority become outstanding in their work. We commonly find examples of professional athletes, artists, intellectuals, or business people who suffered childhood feelings of inadequacy related to their chosen profession. A teacher once pointed out to me that "we choose to do in life that which we feel least competent in doing." I have found that there is ecological validity and pragmatic wisdom in this idea.

A useful question to ask towards understanding the motivation for any action, in ourselves or others, is: "How does this act serve me to not feel inferior?" In this light, we have a theoretical model that helps us to understand our actions and reactions to our thoughts and emotions and to the trigger events from others in our lives. When we understand, as Adler has shown us, that inferiority feelings are a universal human experience, and not some abnormality, we can relax and not feel obligated to react to the feeling that we are inferior, rather than that we are experiencing inferiority. It is a common habit to confuse the emotion with the self. Detaching from the emotion and simply experiencing and acknowledging it can be a liberating experience.

Even the most successful creative and performing artists struggle with deep feelings of insecurity and inferiority, feeling that they are impostors amongst real artists. Understanding that inferiority is a universal human experience, and that we are under no obligation to react to this feeling is helpful in dealing with the experience. As Alfred Adler has taught us, this feeling of inferiority is often the kernel of gold that underlies the motivation to fulfill our potential in our art.