Two Emotional Inadequacy Scales Entwined more Deeply than First Thought
Impostor Syndrome and Inferiority Complexes Collide
Impostor Syndrome and Inferiority Complexes Collide
Imagine, if you will, for a minute, two very young children, let's call them Johnny A and Johnny B.
One day, Johnny A comes running into his mother crying, “Mama, no matter what I do, I can’t swing as high as Johnny B!”
Shortly thereafter, Johnny B goes running into his mother crying “Mama I'm swinging pretty high, but I can’t figure out why. It must be the wind!”
So, if on the self-confidence/inferiority scale, from 1 being a total loser to a 5 being a partial loser, Johnny A is feeling like his score is low. He is remorseful.
On the other hand, when we look at the impostor syndrome scale, with 1 being “the real deal” to 5 being “feeling guilty because I don't know how in the world I got here” Johnny B feels his score is high and he also feels remorseful.
The problem is more times than previously realized, on the overall self-esteem scale, sometimes, as a person works to move upward from a low score on the confidence scale, they can accidentally jump over to the impostor syndrome scale and continue their upward movement into dangerous territory once again.
Obviously, this new information will require much more investigation and possibly a new, third scale.
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