A psychological pattern where individuals doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed as a fraud, despite evidence of their competence. People with impostor syndrome attribute their success to luck rather than ability.
First identified by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978, combining 'impostor' from Latin 'imponere' meaning to deceive, with 'syndrome' from Greek meaning a group of symptoms that occur together.
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