Thematic Analysis of Psychological Factors Influencing Impostor Syndrome Among Graduate Students

Abstract

This study aimed to thematically analyze the psychological factors influencing impostor syndrome among graduate students. This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. The participants were 24 graduate students from universities in Tehran who were selected through purposive sampling based on repeated experiences of perceived academic inadequacy, fear of being exposed as intellectually incompetent, and difficulty internalizing academic success. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Saturation occurred at the twenty-first interview, and three additional interviews were conducted to ensure data adequacy. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using NVivo software through the stages of familiarization with data, initial coding, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and producing the final report. Data analysis led to the identification of five main themes: perfectionistic standards and excessive self-monitoring, external attribution of success, social comparison and evaluative academic climate, fear of exposure and avoidance of help-seeking, and emotional exhaustion with threatened academic identity. The findings indicated that impostor syndrome among graduate students is not merely a transient form of self-doubt, but a multilayered experience shaped by cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, and contextual vulnerabilities. Most participants attributed their achievements to luck, task simplicity, supervisors’ support, or others’ evaluative errors and did not experience lasting reassurance after receiving positive feedback. The findings showed that impostor experiences among graduate students are associated with harsh self-evaluation, inability to internalize success, fear of academic judgment, and comparison-oriented university environments. Therefore, university-based interventions should go beyond research-skills training and focus on self-compassion, emotional literacy, cognitive attribution restructuring, improvement of supervisor–student relationships, and reduction of unhealthy academic competition.