WHEN PARENTS SHAPE PERFECTION: EXPLORING THE HIDDEN PATHWAYS TO IMPOSTOR SYNDROME IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the relationship between perfectionism and impostor syndrome with parenting styles as a mediating factor. The sample population included 250 of the university students in Lahore, whose mean age was 21.7 mean years. The assessments were done with the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; Slaney et al., 2001), Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ; Buri, 1991) and Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS; Clance, 1985). The study used descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, linear regression and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the data. The results of the study indicated that there was a very strong positive association between perfectionism and impostor syndrome (p < .001), which in turn means that more perfectionists experience high levels of impostorism. Meanwhile, the regression analysis indicated that parenting style and perfectionism accounted for 56.6% of the variance in impostor syndrome, however, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) showed that parenting style did not significantly mediate the relationship. These results differ from Western literature, suggesting a unique cultural pathway in which Pakistani family structures and collectivistic ideals influence imposter syndrome in a different way. This research adds to our understanding of how personality traits and early family dynamics can shape experiences of impostor syndrome in a culturally relevant way. It also emphasizes the importance of considering cultural context when exploring psychological concepts tied to self-perception and parental influence. This research uniquely contributes to illustrate how sociocultural processes generate patterns of imposter experiences that previous research has overlooked, so addressing a significant gap in the literature.