Scientists revealed the causes of chronic self-doubt

An international scientific team, uniting specialists from the University of Copenhagen and University College London, has revealed the psychological mechanism behind impostor syndrome - a condition in which a person cannot acknowledge their own achievements for years. The revolutionary study, published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, found a direct link between anxiety disorders, depression, and distorted perception of personal competence.

During the experiment, researchers offered participants an engaging computer game requiring concentration and good memory to collect virtual fruits. After completing each game stage, volunteers assessed their level of confidence in the correctness of their actions, and at the end of the entire test, they gave an overall assessment of their performance.

The data obtained was striking: people suffering from anxiety and depressive states demonstrated a persistent tendency to focus on moments of uncertainty, almost completely ignoring their real successes. Scientists linked this phenomenon to metacognitive distortion underlying the well-known impostor syndrome.

The study showed that metacognition - a unique human ability to analyze one's own thought processes and skills - functions quite differently in people with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Such people systematically downplay the significance of their achievements, focusing exclusively on episodes of doubt, which ultimately forms low self-esteem and leads to avoidance of new challenges.

A key discovery was the fact that it is extremely difficult for people with such distortions to independently correct their perception of their own abilities. However, researchers found an effective method of help: direct and specific positive feedback, focusing attention on real successes, helps significantly improve self-perception.

"For people suffering from impostor syndrome, it is critically important to regularly receive reminders of their genuine achievements and develop healthy skepticism towards their own negative self-assessments," emphasized Sucharit Katyal, the lead author of the study.

The results obtained convincingly demonstrate the need to develop specialized psychological support techniques aimed at correcting metacognitive distortions and restoring adequate self-perception.