Imposter Phenomenon and Burnout in University Students: Moderating Role of Coping Strategies

Imposter phenomenon (IP) is the fear of being exposed as a fraud or an imposter. Recent studies have examined the rise of IP in students. Hence, this study was focused on the detrimental effects of IP on students’ mental health. It examined the relationship between IP, and burnout (along with its 2 subscales; i.e., exhaustion and disengagement) of university students, along with the moderating effect of coping strategies. It was hypothesized that there is correlation among IP, coping strategies and burnout. Further, IP is likely to predict burnout. Moderating effect of coping strategies on the relationship of IP and burnout was also hypothesized. Lastly, gender differences were hypothesized among IP, coping strategies and burnout. Non-probability snowball sampling was used to recruit samples of N = 160 university students. Clance Imposter Phenomenon scale (Clance & Imes, 1978), Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (Baker & Demerouti, 2008) and Coping Scale (Hamby et al., 2015) were used. Pearson-product moment correlational analysis, multiple hierarchical regression and independent sample t-test were used to evaluate results, which showed positive correlation among IP, exhaustion, and disengagement. IP was also a significant predictor of exhaustion and disengagement (i.e., burnout). No moderating effect of coping strategies was found. Only IP, exhaustion and coping strategies had gender differences. Hence, all hypotheses were justified except one. The findings will give a better understanding of students’ mental health and will be helpful in designing coaching programs that will help them alleviate frequent imposter feelings, managing burnout associated with it and enhancing coping strategies.