Perfectionism, excellencism, and impostor feelings: a meta-analysis and two studies on the moderating role of research productivity in graduate students

Previous research examining the link between perfectionistic standards and impostor feelings has yielded mixed results. Responding to recent recommendations to distinguish between the pursuit of high standards (excellencism) and perfectionistic standards (perfectionism), this research reexamined these relationships across three studies. Study 1, a meta-analysis (k = 20), found that proxy measures of perfectionism (e.g. self-oriented perfectionism) but not proxy measures of excellencism (e.g. high standards) were significantly associated with impostor feelings. Study 2, conducted with graduate students (N = 372), revealed that perfection strivers experienced more impostor feelings than excellence strivers when dissatisfied with their research productivity. Study 3 (N = 388) replicated these findings with a measure of annual research productivity and relied on three hypothetical feedback scenarios to explore how perfection and excellence strivers react during the peer review process. Results showed that perfection strivers experienced higher impostor feelings than excellence strivers when research productivity is low and during hypothetical scenarios of receiving positive and mixed feedback. Our findings suggest that pursuing perfection beyond excellence is detrimental, as it heightens impostor feelings in graduate students when they fail to meet their idealized standards.