Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Impostors in the Leaders Among Us; A study of leadership in college settings

Publication Date

Fall 11-2026

College

College of Sciences & Mathematics

Department

Psychological Sciences and Neurosciences, Department of

SURS Faculty Advisor

Patrick Morse

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Abstract

Imposter syndrome, the persistent feeling of intellectual fraudulence and self-doubt despite objective accomplishments, presents a significant psychological barrier among college students (Clance & Imes, 1978). Past research indicates that imposter feelings and low sense of school belongingness exacerbate psychological distress and predispose students to higher levels of depressive symptoms (Dao et al., 20250. These paychological barriers are particularly concerning in higher education, as constructing a strong leader identity and visualizing a “future leader self” serve as essential drivers of motivation to step into leadership roles (Morgan et al., 2025). However, limited empirical work has examined how domain specific belongingness moderates the impact of imposter syndrome on student leadership across distinct academic and cocurricular university settings (Amadi et al., 2025). This study utilizes a correlational and moderated multiple regression survey design among an anticipated sample of 122 undergraduate psychology students at Belmont University. Participants complete online questionnaires measuring imposter syndrome (Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale; Clance, 1978), domain belongingness (Belmont Academic and Extracurricular Belongingness Scales; Arslan & Duru, 2017), and context specific leadership engagement (Leadership Behavior Questionnaire; Northouse, 2021) across randomized academic and extracurricular contexts. Anticipated findings indicate that higher self-reported imposter syndrome correlates with a reduced willingness to lead in both academic and extracurricular domains. Furthermore, academic and extracurricular belongingness are expected to significantly moderate these relationships, buffering and weakening negative impact of imposter feelings on student leadership. Ultimately, these findings will demonstrate that while impostor syndrome inhibits students leadership engagement, cultivating high domain specific belongingness can effectively protect emerging student leaders. Institutional interventions should focus on building inclusive academic and cocurricular environments to mitigate self-doubt and empower student leadership development.

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