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The 5 Types of Impostor Syndrome, According to Valerie Young

Impostor syndrome is not one experience — psychologist Valerie Young identified five distinct patterns behind the feeling of being a fraud.

The Perfectionist

Sets excessively high self-imposed standards, and even a 99% success rate feels like a failure if there was any imperfection at all. Rarely feels satisfied with their own performance.

The Expert

Measures competence by how much they know, and feels like a fraud whenever they do not know something — even if that gap is normal or minor. Often over-prepares before feeling ready to speak up.

The Natural Genius

Believes real competence should come quickly and easily, and interprets needing to struggle, practice, or ask for help as proof they are not actually talented.

The Soloist

Believes asking for help reveals incompetence or weakness, and insists on accomplishing things entirely alone, treating collaboration as a sign of failure rather than a normal way of working.

The Superhero

Pushes to succeed in every single role at once — work, family, social life — and measures self-worth by how much they can handle, often at the cost of burnout.

A common thread across all five

Young's broader point is that each type is driven by a different, often unconscious rule about what "real" competence looks like — and recognizing which rule is running the show is usually the first step toward loosening its grip.

What impostor syndrome actually is

The term was coined in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes to describe a persistent feeling of being a fraud, and an accompanying fear of being "found out," that occurs despite clear external evidence of genuine competence and achievement.

Why Young split it into five types

In her 2011 book "The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women," Young argued that generic reassurance ("you're doing great!") often does not help, because the underlying self-imposed rule differs by type — a Perfectionist and a Soloist are struggling with fundamentally different internal standards, so the useful advice for each looks different too.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is impostor syndrome an official clinical diagnosis?

No. It is not listed in the DSM as a disorder — it is a descriptive psychological concept for a common pattern of thought and feeling, not a formal medical diagnosis.

Can someone fit more than one type at the same time?

Yes, this is common. Many people recognize traits from two or three of the five types simultaneously, and which type feels most dominant can shift depending on the situation.