Imposter syndrome is one of the more common and fascinating phenomena, and sees sufferers struggle to internalize their achievements, confident in the fact they will be exposed before long.

Whilst it might seem as though this is the last thing that leaders would suffer from, it is nonetheless relatively common.  I wrote last year about one German study that explored how imposter syndrome in a manager influenced how they treated their team.

The research found that when such people are in management situations, rather than delegating tasks to those that are confident and assured, they’re more likely to favor people who also feel unworthy.

Selfish leaders

Of course, it seems a little peculiar that leaders should suffer from imposter syndrome in the first place, as we’re led to believe that leaders have confidence oozing from every pore, and indeed this confidence is a major factor in their ascent to power.

Alas, a recent study suggests that evidence of imposter syndrome in leaders correlates broadly with their level of selfishness.  The research found that when leaders suffer from imposter syndrome, they are more likely to be generous to others as they try and alleviate any perceived unfairness in their ascent to power.

“The effects of social status on generosity are contingent on deservingness, meaning that high-ranking people don’t always behave selfishly, as a significant amount of research suggests, but do indeed care about whether or not they deserve their position,” the authors say.

This was then confirmed in a second study whereby our willingness to help others in our team tended to depend on our perceptions of both our own status and those of our teammate.

Changing perceptions

The study is interesting because most previous works have suggested that we become more selfish as we rise into leadership positions.  This paper suggests that this is largely down to how we perceive ourselves and our ascent however.

In other words, if we fully believe that our rise to power was justified, then we’re likely to act in a selfish manner.  If we doubt this basic level of fairness however, we are actually likely to behave less selfishly.

“We demonstrate that generosity may not persist once people achieve that high status,” the authors conclude. “It depends on whether they feel that status is deserved.”