Exploring the Mind | Why Do Successful People Feel Like a Fraud? (Cokley)

Do you ever doubt your achievements? Have negative self-talk? Come up with excuses for your success? Feel like your failures define you? Feel like you don’t belong? Question your abilities? You are not alone. These are all hallmarks of the impostor phenomenon. These thoughts and feelings are common among many people, with research indicating that over 80% of people report having impostor feelings. The impostor phenomenon is especially prevalent among women and minoritized individuals. In this talk, Dr. Kevin Cokley will engage participants in a research-informed discussion about the impostor phenomenon. He will discuss how the impostor phenomenon is created and describe the impostor cycle. Dr. Cokley will highlight his research that examines how the impostor phenomenon impacts mental health and achievement among women and minoritized individuals and make the case for why there needs to be a reconceptualized, racialized impostor phenomenon. Dr. Cokley will end by providing recommendations on how to combat impostor feelings. About the speaker: Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. is the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan where he serves as Associate Chair of Diversity Initiatives for the Department of Psychology. Dr. Cokley studies the psychosocial experiences of African American students and students of color and is currently exploring the impostor phenomenon and its relationship to mental health and academic outcomes. He is the past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Black Psychology and holds the title of Distinguished Psychologist from the Association of Black Psychologists. He is past President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race, and was elected to Fellow status in the American Psychological Association for his contributions to ethnic minority psychology and counseling psychology. He is editor of the 2024 book “The Impostor Phenomenon: Psychological Research, Theory, and Interventions.” His research on the impostor phenomenon has been featured in the New York Times and the Harvard Business Review. Dr. Cokley has given numerous invited talks on the impostor phenomenon at places including Johns Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Grand Rounds, Notre Dame University Law School, the International Toastmaster Conference, and Morgan Stanley. This event is in partnership with the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan Psychology.