Comparative Cross-Sectional Study on the Prevalence of Impostor Phenomenon in Medical and Non-Medical Students of Lahore City

Authors

Keywords:

Mental health, Impostor Phenomenon/Syndrome, medical students, non-medical students, Prevalence, Gender Differences

Abstract

Background:The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is a psychological pattern characterized by feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt despite evident competence. This study aims to compare the prevalence of Impostor Phenomenon among medical and non-medical students in Lahore, Pakistan and to compare the distribution between genders.

Methods:A cross-sectional study involving a total of 242 medical and non-medical students was conducted using the validated Clance Impostor Phenomenon (CIP) scale that ranges between 20 to 100 and includes scores categorised as ≤40 (mild), 41-60 (Moderate), 61-80 (Frequent), ≥81 (Severe). The data was collected between February 2023 to April 2023. It was analyzed using descriptive statistics and unpaired t-tests as well as multivariate linear regression model in SPSS version-26.

Results:IP was prevalent among both medical and non-medical students, with significantly higher scores among non-medical students (mean CIP score: of 67.08 ±13.704) compared to medical students (mean CIP score: 58.36 ±11.413. It was noted that although IP is prevalent in both genders, it is much more significant in females as females exhibited higher IP scores than males (p-value <0.05). The multivariate linear regression model showed significant dependency of the total CIP scores on the variables, university and gender, with the p-value being less than 0.05

Conclusion:In conclusion, this study underscores the high prevalence of IP among medical and non-medical students and highlights the need for targeted interventions. It also explores the effect of both genders on having feelings of impostor-ism.

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2025-03-03

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Raashed , L., Liaqat, A., Nasir, M., Tariq , M., & Omer , Z. (2025). Comparative Cross-Sectional Study on the Prevalence of Impostor Phenomenon in Medical and Non-Medical Students of Lahore City. International Journal of Medical Students. Retrieved from https://ijms.pitt.edu/IJMS/article/view/2470

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Copyright (c) 2025 Lareib Raashed , Afia Liaqat, Maheen Nasir, Maheen Tariq , Zainab Omer

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