Maya Angelou couldn't escape the nagging doubt

即使是寫了十一本書 且贏得了數個聲望很高的獎項，

that she hadn't really earned her accomplishments.

馬雅安傑洛仍無法 脫離那惱人的懷疑，

Albert Einstein experienced something similar:

她無法相信她的成就 是她靠自己得來的。

he described himself as an “involuntary swindler”

愛因斯坦也有過類似的經歷：

whose work didn't deserve as much attention as it had received.

他把自己描述成 一個「非自願的騙子」，

Accomplishments at the level of Angelou's or Einstein's are rare,

他的研究不值得 得到這麼多的關注。

but their feeling of fraudulence is extremely common.

安傑洛和愛因斯坦 等級的成就是很稀有的，

Why can't so many of us shake feelings

但他們這種詐欺的 感覺其實很常見。

that we haven't earned our accomplishments,

為何有這麼多人 無法擺脫這種感覺，

or that our ideas and skills aren't worthy of others' attention?

認為自己的成就 不是靠自己得來的，

Psychologist Pauline Rose Clance was the first to study

或者自己的點子及技能 不值得其他人注意？

this unwarranted sense of insecurity.

心理學家波林蘿絲克蘭斯 首先開始研究

In her work as a therapist,

這種沒根據的不安全感。

she noticed many of her undergraduate patients shared a concern:

在擔任心理治療師時，

though they had high grades,

她注意到她的許多大學生 病人都有同樣的憂慮：

they didn't believe they deserved their spots at the university.

雖然他們的成績很好，

Some even believed their acceptance had been an admissions error.

他們卻不相信他們能夠進入大學。

While Clance knew these fears were unfounded,

有些人甚至相信他們的申請 被接受是因為入學許可的疏失。

she could also remember feeling the exact same way in graduate school.

雖然克蘭斯知道 這些恐懼是沒根據的，

She and her patients experienced something that goes by a number of names--

但她也記得在讀研究所時 就有著同樣的感覺。

imposter phenomenon,

她和她的病人所經歷到的 狀況，有許多名稱——

imposter experience,

冒名頂替現象、

and imposter syndrome.

冒名頂替經驗，

Together with colleague Suzanne Imes,

以及冒名頂替症候群。

Clance first studied imposterism in female college students and faculty.

克蘭斯和她的同事蘇珊艾姆絲

Their work established pervasive feelings of fraudulence in this group.

首先開始研究大學女學生 及女教職員工的冒名頂替特性。

Since that first study,

他們的研究證實這一類的人 普遍會有詐欺的感受。

the same thing has been established across gender,

從那第一篇研究之後，

race,

同樣的現象也被發現 會出現在各種性別、

age,

種族、年齡，

and a huge range of occupations,

以及相當多種職業當中，

though it may be more prevalent and disproportionately affect

不過，這在少數或弱勢族群當中

the experiences of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups.

會更常見，且對他們的影響也更大。

To call it a syndrome is to downplay how universal it is.

把它稱為症候群， 其實是低估了它的普遍程度。

It's not a disease or an abnormality,

它不是疾病，也不是不正常的，

and it isn't necessarily tied to depression,

它也不見得就會關聯到憂鬱、

anxiety,

焦慮，或自尊。

or self-esteem.

這些詐欺的感覺是哪裡來的？

Where do these feelings of fraudulence come from?

技能很好或是成就很高的人

People who are highly skilled or accomplished

傾向認為其他人也同樣有技能。

tend to think others are just as skilled.

這可能會讓人覺得他們不應該得到

This can spiral into feelings that they don't deserve accolades

超越他人的榮譽和機會。

and opportunities over other people.

就像安傑洛及愛因斯坦的經歷，

And as Angelou and Einstein experienced,

不是說成就到了多高的門檻之後，

there's often no threshold of accomplishment

這些感受就不會再出現。

that puts these feelings to rest.

冒名頂替的感受 並不限於技能很好的人。

Feelings of imposterism aren't restricted to highly skilled individuals, either.

人人都很容易被一個現象影響， 就是大家所知的「多數的無知」，

Everyone is susceptible to a phenomenon known as pluralistic ignorance,

也就是說，每個人 私底下都懷疑自己，

where we each doubt ourselves privately,

但相信只有自己是那樣想的，

but believe we're alone in thinking that way

因為沒有其他人說出他們的懷疑。

because no one else voices their doubts.

因為很難真正知道 我們的同儕有多努力，

Since it's tough to really know how hard our peers work,

他們覺得某些工作任務有多困難，

how difficult they find certain tasks,

或是他們有多懷疑自己，

or how much they doubt themselves,

認為周遭的人能力比我們好的感受

there's no easy way to dismiss feelings that we're less capable

就不可能被消除。

than the people around us.

強烈的冒名頂替感

Intense feelings of imposterism

會讓人無法分享他們很棒的點子

can prevent people from sharing their great ideas

或無法應徵那些他們明明可以 做得很出色的工作或專案。

or applying for jobs and programs where they'd excel.

至少，目前，

At least so far,

對抗冒名頂替症候群最有效的方式

the most surefire way to combat imposter syndrome

就是去談它。

is to talk about it.

許多飽受冒名頂替症候群之苦的人

Many people suffering from imposter syndrome

擔心若詢問他們表現得如何，

are afraid that if they ask about their performance,

答案會確認他們所害怕的事。

their fears will be confirmed.

即使他們得到正面的回饋意見，

And even when they receive positive feedback,

通常也無法抒緩詐欺的感受。

it often fails to ease feelings of fraudulence.

但，另一方面，

But on the other hand,

若聽說有位顧問或導師曾經 經歷過冒名頂替的感受，

hearing that an advisor or mentor has experienced feelings of imposterism

就能協助減輕這些感受。

can help relieve those feelings.

對於同儕也是一樣的。

The same goes for peers.

光是知道有個詞專門 是在表示這些感覺，

Even simply finding out there's a term for these feelings

就能讓人釋懷許多。

can be an incredible relief.

一旦你察覺了這個現象，

Once you're aware of the phenomenon,

你就能對抗你自己的 冒名頂替症候群，

you can combat your own imposter syndrome

方法是收集和重新檢視 正面的回饋意見。

by collecting and revisiting positive feedback.

有位科學一直把她的實驗室中 發生的問題歸咎於自己，

One scientist who kept blaming herself for problems in her lab

後來她開始在每次出錯時 就把原因記錄下來。

started to document the causes every time something went wrong.

最終，她發現大部分的問題

Eventually, she realized most of the problems

都是因為設備故障，

came from equipment failure,

她漸漸能夠認可自己的能力。

and came to recognize her own competence.

我們可能永遠無法 完全消除這些感受，

We may never be able to banish these feelings entirely,

但我們能開放地去談 學術上或專業上的困難之處。

but we can have open conversations about academic or professional challenges.

隨著我們越來越清楚 這些經歷有多常見，

With increasing awareness of how common these experiences are,

也許我們也會能更自在地 坦言我們的感受，

perhaps we can feel freer to be frank about our feelings

建立信心，相信一些簡單的事實：

and build confidence in some simple truths:

你有天份，你有能力，

you have talent,

且你夠格。

you are capable,

and you belong.