什麼是冒牌者症候群，如何克服它？- 伊麗莎白·考克斯 (Elizabeth Cox)：英語精讀講義

Even after writing 11 books and winning several prestigious awards, 表達脈絡

即使在寫了11本書並獲得了幾個著名獎項之後，

Maya Angelou couldn't escape the nagging doubt 慣用語

瑪雅·安吉洛依然無法擺脫一種揮之不去的自我懷疑，

that she hadn't really earned her accomplishments. 文法

認為自己並沒有真正配得上這些成就。

Albert Einstein experienced something similar.

阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦也有過類似的經歷。

He described himself as an involuntary swindler 慣用語

他形容自己是個「非自願的騙子」，

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

認為自己的工作根本不配獲得那麼多關注。

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

像安吉洛或愛因斯坦那樣級別的成就是罕見的，

but their feeling of fraudulence is extremely common. 用詞

但他們這種感覺自己像騙子的心態卻極其普遍。

Why can't so many of us shake feelings that we haven't earned our accomplishments, 用詞

為什麼我們中有這麼多人無法擺脫「德不配位」的感覺，

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

或者總覺得我們的想法和技能不值得別人關注呢？

Psychologist Pauline Rose Clance was the first to study this unwarranted sense of insecurity. 文法

心理學家寶琳·羅斯·克蘭斯是第一位研究這種毫無根據的不安全感的人。

In her work as a therapist,

在她作為治療師的工作中，

she noticed many of her undergraduate patients shared a concern.

她注意到她的許多大學部病患都有一個共同的擔憂。

Though they had high grades,

儘管他們成績優異，

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

他們卻不相信自己配得上在大學裡的一席之地。

Some even believed their acceptance had been an admissions error. 文化背景

有些人甚至認為自己被錄取只是招生辦的失誤。

While Clance knew these fears were unfounded, 用詞

雖然克蘭斯知道這些恐懼是毫無根據的，

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

但她也記得自己在讀研究所時有過完全相同的感受。

She and her patients experienced something that goes by a number of names: 片語搭配

她和她的病患所經歷的這種現象有幾個不同的名字：

imposter phenomenon,

冒牌者現象、

imposter experience,

冒牌者體驗、

and imposter syndrome. 文化背景

以及冒牌者症候群。

Together with colleague Suzanne Imes,

與同事蘇珊·艾姆斯一起，

Clance first studied impostorism in female college students and faculty.

克蘭斯首先在女大學生和女教職員中研究了這種冒牌者現象。

Their work established pervasive feelings of fraudulence in this group.

她們的研究證實了這種感覺自己是騙子的心態在該群體中普遍存在。

Since that first study,

自那次初步研究以來，

the same thing has been established across gender, race, age, and a huge range of occupations. 片語搭配

同樣的現象在不同性別、種族、年齡以及各種各樣的職業中都得到了證實。

Though it may be more prevalent and disproportionately affect the experiences of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups. 用詞

儘管它在少數群體或弱勢群體中可能更為普遍，並且對他們的經歷影響更為明顯。

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

將其稱為一種「症候群」，其實是低估了它的普遍性。

It's not a disease or an abnormality,

它不是一種疾病，也不是什麼反常現象，

and it isn't necessarily tied to depression, anxiety, or self-esteem. 片語搭配

它也並不一定與憂鬱、焦慮或自尊心有關。

Where do these feelings of fraudulence come from?

那麼這種感覺自己像騙子的心態是從何而來的呢？

People who are highly skilled or accomplished tend to think others are just as skilled.

技能高超或成就斐然的人往往認為別人也同樣優秀。

This can spiral into feelings that they don't deserve accolades and opportunities over other people. 慣用語

這會逐漸演變成一種感覺，認為自己不該比別人獲得更多的讚譽和機會。

And as Angelou and Einstein experienced,

而且正如安吉洛和愛因斯坦所經歷的那樣，

there's often no threshold of accomplishment that puts these feelings to rest. 講解

往往沒有任何成就的閾值能讓這些感覺平息。

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

冒牌者的感覺也不僅僅侷限於那些高技能的人。

Everyone is susceptible to a phenomenon known as pluralistic ignorance, 文化背景

每個人都容易受到一種被稱為「多數無知」現象的影響，

where we each doubt ourselves privately,

在這種現象中，我們每個人私下裡都在懷疑自己，

but believe we're alone in thinking that way because no one else voices their doubts. 用詞

但卻認為只有自己這麼想，因為沒有其他人會說出他們的懷疑。

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

因為我們很難真正了解同儕工作有多努力，

how difficult they find certain tasks,

他們覺得某些任務有多困難，

or how much they doubt themselves,

或者他們對自己有多懷疑，

there's no easy way to dismiss feelings that we're less capable than the people around us. 文法

所以我們很難輕易打消這種「自己能力不如身邊人」的感覺。

And intense feelings of impostorism can prevent people from sharing their great ideas 文法

而且強烈的冒牌者感覺會阻止人們分享他們出色的想法，

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

或者去申請那些他們本可以大放異彩的工作和計畫。

At least so far, 表達脈絡

至少到目前為止，

the most sure-fire way to combat impostor syndrome is to talk about it. 片語搭配

對抗冒牌者症候群最萬無一失的方法就是談論它。

Many people suffering from impostor syndrome are afraid that if they ask about their performance, 文法

許多飽受冒牌者症候群折磨的人害怕，如果他們詢問別人對自己表現的看法，

their fears will be confirmed.

他們的恐懼就會被證實。

And even when they receive positive feedback,

甚至當他們收到積極的回饋時，

it often fails to ease feelings of fraudulence. 片語搭配

也往往無法緩解他們那種「騙子」的感覺。

But on the other hand, 表達脈絡

但另一方面，

hearing that an advisor or mentor has experienced feelings of impostorism can help relieve those feelings.

聽到導師或指導者也曾經歷過冒牌者的感覺，可以幫助減輕這些感受。

The same goes for peers. 片語搭配

對同儕來說也是如此。

Even simply finding out there's a term for these feelings can be an incredible relief. 片語動詞

甚至僅僅是知道這些感受有一個專有名詞，就能帶來難以置信的慰藉。

Once you're aware of the phenomenon, 文法

一旦你意識到了這種現象，

you can combat your own impostor syndrome by collecting and revisiting positive feedback. 文法

你就可以透過收集並回顧積極的回饋來對抗你自己的冒牌者症候群。

One scientist who kept blaming herself for problems in her lab 片語搭配

有一位科學家總是把實驗室裡出現的問題歸咎於自己，

started to document the causes every time something went wrong.

她開始在每次出問題時記錄下原因。

Eventually,

最終，

she realized most of the problems came from equipment failure and came to recognize her own competence. 片語搭配

她意識到大多數問題都出在設備故障上，並開始認可自己的能力。

We may never be able to banish these feelings entirely, 文法

我們也許永遠無法完全消除這些感覺，

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

但我們可以就學術或職業上的挑戰進行開誠布公的對話。

With increasing awareness of how common these experiences are, 文法

隨著人們越來越意識到這些經歷有多麼普遍，

perhaps we can feel freer to be frank about our feelings and build confidence in some simple truths: 用詞

也許我們可以更自在地坦露自己的感受，並對一些簡單的真理建立信心：

You have talent, you are capable, and you belong. 表達脈絡

你有天賦，你有能力，並且你屬於這裡。

Everyone can use a little extra kick of confidence sometimes. 慣用語

有時候，每個人都需要一點額外的自信心作為動力。

Find out some tips and tricks for boosting yours with this video.

透過這個影片，了解一些提升自信的小技巧吧。