1. The Effect of Subject-Specific Impostor Phenomenon and Self-Efficacy on Expected Grade in Statistics
- Author
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Blondeau, Lauren A. and Han, Cheon-woo
- Abstract
The impostor phenomenon is a psychological self-belief that one does not deserve the accolades that one has legitimately earned. Impostorism negatively affects individuals' cognitions, behaviors, and expectations, but possibly not in "all" aspects of their lives simultaneously. Presently, we reconceptualize the impostor phenomenon as a domain-specific construct. We modified an existing measure to reflect the impostor phenomenon in a statistics class, specifically. We tested this new measure using confirmatory factor analysis and found a good fit for a revised model containing 16 items. A confirmatory factor analysis also validated the latent variable self-efficacy in statistics. Additionally, we used Bandura's (2000) social cognitive theory of learning to create a structural equation model demonstrating that impostorism negatively affects a student's expected grade in statistics. The relation is partially mediated by reduced self-efficacy in statistics. Impostors did not expect to do well in their statistics class, and this was somewhat due to their reduced self-confidence in that course. Interventions designed to increase self-efficacy should consider impostorism as an important related construct.
- Published
- 2017