Recieved: 06/18/2024
Accepted: 12/16/2024
Published: 02/12/2025
Keywords: Impostor phenomenon; job satisfaction; organizational behaviour; counterproductive work behaviour; work procrastination
Pages: 86-97
DOI: 10.11621/npj.2025.0108
Available online: 12.02.2025
Rudnova, N.A., Sheveleva, M.S. (2025). Organizational Behaviour in Employees with Impostor Phenomenon. National Psychological Journal, 20(1) , 86-97. https://doi.org/10.11621/npj.2025.0108
Copied to Clipboard
CopyBackground. According to current research, about 40% of working adults are prone to the Imposter Phenomenon. It means that about half of employees have intrinsic obstacles for career development. It has been shown that both professional wellbeing and the quality of work performance depend on the level of work satisfaction to a larger degree. However, there is a critical lack of studies on a Russian sample on how employees with high Imposter Phenomenon behave at workplace depending on their level of satisfaction with different occupational factors.
Objective. The objective of this research is to study organizational behaviour in employees with high Imposter Phenomenon depending on the level of their job satisfaction.
Study Participants.331 working Russian respondents with the age range from 18 to 68 took part in this cross-sectional study.
Methods.They filled out the questionnaire containing four scales: Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale, Individual Work Performance Questionnaire by L. Koopmans, Procrastination at Work Scale by U. Metin and The Structure of the Performance Incentives by T. Badoev.
Results. The results of the statistical analysis indicate that the employees with low Imposter Phenomenon (both satisfied with their job and not) demonstrate higher behavioral indicators of readiness to solve working problems and lower behavioral indicators of counterproductive working behaviour and procrastination at the workplace.
Conclusions.The results of the current study lead to the assumption that the Impostor Phenomenon could be a predictor of the behaviour connected with solving working tasks; work satisfaction could be a predictor of the behaviour connected with supporting company values. Both the Impostor Phenomenon and work satisfaction could serve as the predictors to counterproductive working behaviour and procrastination at the workplace.
Dajneko, V.V. (2022). Positive organizational doctrine: positive organizational behavior by F. Luthans and positive organizational scholarship by K. Cameron. Organizacionnaya psihologiya = Organizational Psychology, (1), 175. (In Russ.)
Grigoryan, L.K., Lebedeva, N.M. (2014). Cross-cultural study of the role of informal relations in the formation of organizational loyalty. Eksperimental’naya psihologiya = Experimental Psychology, 7(2), 128–147. (In Russ.)
Gulevich, O.A. (2013). Organizational citizenship beh * avior: conditions and consequences. Organizacionnaya psihologiy = Organizational Psychology, (3), 78–96. (In Russ.)
Ilin, E.P. (2008). Motivation and motives. St. Petersburg: Piter Publ. (In Russ.)
Klimenko, O.I., Shupilo, O.M. (2014). Organizational behavior as a factor in managing employees’ labor activities. Vestnik Belgorodskogo universiteta kooperacii, ekonomiki i prava = Herald of the Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law, 1(49), 114–120. (In Russ.)
Kochetkov, N.V., Marinova, T.YU., Orlov, V.A., Raskhodchikova, M.N., Hajmovskaya, N.A. (2023). Current Foreign Studies of Professional Burnout in Teachers. Sovremennaya zarubezhnaya psihologiya = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 12(2), 43–52. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2023120204
Pogudina, E.YU. (2013). Micro approach to organizational behavior. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Tomsk State University, (373), 171–173. (In Russ.)
Rudakova, N.L. (2019). On the issue of job satisfaction among employees of organizational units in the context of various organizational subcultures. Aktual’nye problemy organizacionnoj psihologii i psihologii dorozhnogo dvizheniya = Current Issues of Organizational Psychology and Traffic Psychology, (3), 31–41. (In Russ.)
Rudnova, N.A., Kornienko, D.S. (2022). Psihometricheskie harakteristiki oprosnika “Individual’noe vypolnenie raboty”. Psihologicheskie issledovaniya = Psychological Studies, 15(84). (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.54359/ps.v15i84.1171
Sheveleva, M.S. (2023). The Phenomenon of the Imposter: A Review of Foreign Research. Sovremennaya zarubezhnaya psihologiya = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 12(2), 116–124. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2023120211
Sheveleva, M.S., Kornienko, D.S., Permyakova, T.M. (2021b). Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale: psychometric properties of Russian version. Psikhologicheskiy zhurnal = Psychological Journal, 42(1), 132–142. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S020595920013343-3
Sheveleva, M.S., Zolotareva, A.A., Rudnova, N.A, Kornienko, D.S., Permyakova, T.M. (2022). Perfectionism and imposter phenomenon as predictors of work engagement and subjective well-being. Psikhologicheskiy zhurnal = Psychological Journal, 43(3), 80–88. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S020595920020498-3
Sheveleva, M.S., Zolotareva, A.A., Rudnova, N.A. (2021a). The imposter phenomenon in the work context: the role of motivation and perfectionism. National Psychological Journal, 3(43), 96–104. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.11621/npj.2021.0308
Sidorenkov, A.V., Bohorovskij, E.F. (2020). Organizational citizenship behavior and communicativeness of employees in the institutional context. Zhurnal institucional’nyh issledovanij = Journal of Institutional Studies, 12(2), 119–131. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17835/2076-6297.2020.12.2.119-131
Temnickij, A.L. (2002). Sociocultural factors of industrial workers’ work behavior, 1990s. Sociologicheskij zhurnal = Sociological Journal, (2), 76–93. (In Russ.)
Addae-Konadu, K., Carlson, S., Janes, J., Gecsi, K., Stephenson-Famy, A.B. (2022). Am I Really Qualified to Be Here: Exploring the Impact of Impostor Phenomenon on Training and Careers in OB/GYN Medical Education. Journal of Surgical Education, 79(1), 102–106. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.08.013
Badawy, R.L., Gazdag, B.A., Bentley, J.R., Brouer, R.L. (2018). Are all impostors created equal? Exploring gender differences in the impostor phenomenon-performance link. Personality and Individual Differences, (131), 156–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.044
Bernard, N.S., Dollinger, S.J., Ramaniah, N.V. (2002). Applying the big five personality factors to the impostor phenomenon. Journal of Personality Assessment, 78(2), 321–333. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327752JPA7802_07
Bernat, E. (2008). Towards a pedagogy of empowerment: The case of “impostor syndrome” among pre-service non-native speaker teachers in TESOL. English Language Teacher Education and Development, 11(1), 1–8.
Bravata, D.M., Watts, S.A., Keefer, A.L., Madhusudhan, D.K., Taylor, K.T., Clark, D.M., Nelson, R.S., Cokley, K.O., Hagg, H.K. (2020). Prevalence, Predictors, and Treatment of Impostor Syndrome: a Systematic Review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35(4), 1252–1275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05364-1
Budi Santoso, P., Asbari, M., Siswanto, E., Fahmi, K. (2021). The Role of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Performance: Evidence from Indonesian Teachers. International Journal of Social and Management Studies, 1(1), 22–31. https://doi.org/10.5555/ijosmas.v1i1.2
Chiang, C.-F., Hsieh, T.-S. (2012). The impacts of perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment on job performance: The mediating effects of organizational citizenship behavior. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(1), 180–190. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2011.04.011
Cokley, K., Awad, G., Smith, L., Jackson, S., Awosogba, O., Hurst, A., Stone, S., Blondeau, L., Roberts, D. (2015). The roles of gender stigma consciousness, impostor phenomenon and academic self-concept in the academic outcomes of women and men. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 73(9–10), 414–426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0516-7
Koopmans, L., Bernaards, C.M., Hildebrandt, V.H., Schaufeli, W.B., de Vet Henrica, C.W., van der Beek, A.J. (2011). Conceptual frameworks of individual work performance: a systematic review. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 53(8), 856–866. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0b013e318226a763
Lee, H., Anderson, C.B., Yates, M.S., Chang, S., Chakraverty, D. (2022). Insights into the complexity of the impostor phenomenon among trainees and professionals in STEM and medicine. Current Psychology, 41(9), 5913–5924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01089-1
Leonhardt, M., Bechtoldt, M.N., Rohrmann, S. (2017). All impostors aren’t alike — differentiating the impostor phenomenon. Frontiers in Psychology, (8), 1505.
Mak, K.K., Kleitman, S., Abbott, M.J. (2019). Impostor phenomenon measurement scales: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, (10), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00671
Metin, U.B., Taris, T.W., Peeters, M.C.W., Korpinen, M., Smrke, U., Razum, J., Kolářová, M., Baykova, R., Gaioshko, D. (2020). Validation of the Procrastination at Work Scale: A seven-language study. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 36(5), 767–776. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000554
Metin, U.B., Taris, T.W., Peeters, M.C.W. (2016). Measuring procrastination at work and its associated workplace aspects. Personality and Individual Differences, (101), 254–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.006
Matthews, G., Clance, P.R. (1985). Treatment of the impostor phenomenon in psychotherapy clients. Psychotherapy in Private Practice, 3(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1300/J294v03n01_09
Meurer, A.M., Costa, F. (2020). Behold the best and worst of me: the impostor phenomenon and academic behavior in the business area. Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, (31), 348–363. https://doi.org/10.1590/1808-057x201910370
Nemteanu, M.S., Dabija, D.C. (2021). The Influence of Internal Marketing and Job Satisfaction on Task Performance and Counterproductive Work Behavior in an Emerging Market during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3670. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073670
Neureiter, M., Traut-Mattausch, E. (2016). An Inner Barrier to Career Development: Preconditions of the Impostor Phenomenon and Consequences for Career Development. Frontiers in Psychology, (7), 48. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00048
Parkman, A. (2016). The imposter phenomenon in higher education: Incidence and impact. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice,16(1), 51–60.
Sambung, R. (2019). Job satisfaction on employee performance; Counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior as mediations. International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 7(3), 50–56. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20190703.12
Schubert, N., Bowker, A. (2017). Examining the impostor phenomenon in relation to self-esteem level and self-esteem instability. Current Psychology, (38), 749–755. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9650-4
Sığırcıkoğlu, E.B., Güğerçin, U. (2022). The role of perceived organizational justice and job satisfaction in municipality employees’ cyberslacking behaviors. In: B. Akkaya, K. Jermsittiparsert, A. Gunsel, (eds.). Handbook of Research on Current Trends in Asian Economics, Business, and Administration, (pp. 366–383). Hershey: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-8486-6.ch020
Thompson, T., Davis, H., Davidson, J. (1998). Attributional and affective responses of impostors to academic success and failure outcomes.
Personality and Individual Differences, 25(2), 381–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00065-8
Thompson, T., Foreman, P., & Martin, F. (2000). Imposter fears and perfectionistic concern over mistakes. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(4), 629–647. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00218-4
Urien Angulo, B., Díez Valdés, V., Osca Segovia, A. (2018). Justice, satisfaction and counterproductive behaviour: A Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory study on social workers. Cuadernos de Trabajo Social, (32), 141–152. https://doi.org/10.5209/cuts.56882
Vergauwe, J., Wille, B., Feys, M., De Fruyt, F., Anseel, F. (2015). Fear of being exposed: The trait-relatedness of the impostor phenomenon and its relevance in the work context. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(3), 565–581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-014-9382-5
Villwock, J.A., Sobin, L.B., Koester, L.A., & Harris, T.M. (2016). Impostor syndrome and burnout among American medical students: a pilot study. International Journal of Medical Education, (7), 364–369. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.5801.eac4
Want, J., Kleitman, S. (2006). Imposter phenomenon and self-handicapping: Links with parenting styles and self-confidence. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(5), 961–971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.10.005
Rudnova, N.A., Sheveleva, M.S.. Organizational Behaviour in Employees with Impostor Phenomenon. // National Psychological Journal 2025. 1. Pages86-97. doi: 10.11621/npj.2025.0108
Copied to Clipboard
Copy