Examining the Impostor-Profile - Is there a general impostor characteristic?

Ibrahim, Fabio; Münscher, Johann-Christoph; Herzberg, Philipp Yorck

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720072

Examining the Impostor-Profile - Is there a general impostor characteristic?

Publication date

2021-09-09

Document type

Forschungsartikel

Author

Ibrahim, Fabio

Münscher, Johann-Christoph

Herzberg, Philipp Yorck

Organisational unit

Persönlichkeitspsychologie und Psychologische Diagnostik

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720072

URI

https://openhsu.ub.hsu-hh.de/handle/10.24405/23968

Publisher

Frontiers Research Foundation

Series or journal

Frontiers in psychology

ISSN

1664-1078

Periodical volume

12

Article ID

720072

Peer-reviewed

✅

Part of the university bibliography

✅

Funding(s)

Publikationsfonds der HSU/UniBw H

Language

English

Keyword

Impostor-Profile

Clance impostor phenomenon scale

IPP30

Gender

Measurement invariance

Attributional style

Bifactor model

Impostor phenomenon

Abstract

The Impostor-Profile (IPP) is a six-dimensional questionnaire measuring the Impostor Phenomenon facets. This study aims to test (a) the appropriateness of a total score, (b) measurement invariance (MI) between gender, (c) the reliability of the IPP, and (d) the convergent validity of the IPP subscales. The sample consisted of N = 482 individuals (64% female). To identify whether the scales of the IPP form a total score, we compared four models: (1) six correlating subscales, (2) a general factor model, (3) a second-order model with one second-order factor and six first-order factors, and (4) a bifactorial model with six group factors. The bifactorial model obtained the best fit. This supports the assumption of a total impostor score. The inspection of structural validity between gender subgroups showed configural, metric, and partial scalar MI. Factor mean comparisons supported the assumption that females and males differ in latent means of the Impostor Phenomenon expressions. The omega coefficients showed sufficient reliability (≥0.71), except for the subscale Need for Sympathy. Overall, the findings of the bifactor model fit and construct validity support the assumption that the measurement through total expression is meaningful in addition to the theoretically formulated multidimensionality of the Impostor Phenomenon.

Description

This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Version

Published version

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