Impostor phenomenon and ambiguity tolerance in practicing physical therapists: an exploratory correlational study.

OBJECTIVES

Investigate the prevalence and contextualize the relationship of impostor phenomenon (IP) and ambiguity tolerance (AT) in practicing physical therapists (PTs).

METHODS

Online survey including demographic questions, Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), and Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale (TAS).  Descriptive analyses assessed (N = 422) demographic data, CIPS, and TAS scores. Chi-square tests determined distribution across demographic variables.  Kruskal-Wallis tests assessed differences between CIPS and TAS.  Age was a proxy for career stage in Pearson product-moment correlations to assess relationships between CIPS and TAS.

RESULTS

In practicing PTs (M age = 42.12, SD = 12.34), moderate (48.6%; n = 205) to frequent (26.8%; n = 113) IP feelings were prevalent, but only 31.5% (n = 133) were true impostors.  Significant differences exist in clinical experience for CIPS, H(7, n = 422) = 67.82, p <.001 and TAS, H(7, n = 422) = 21.79, p= .003. Most PTs tolerate ambiguity (M = 54.93, SD = 8.19).  A moderate negative correlation between age and CIPS, r = -.36, p <.001 and a small negative correlation between age and TAS, r=-.19, p <.001 exists. Age accounts for 13% of the variance per IP and 3.6% variance per TAS score.  A small positive relationship exists between CIPS and TAS, r = .10, p <.05.

CONCLUSIONS

Practicing PTs experience moderate to frequent IP and are ambiguity tolerant.  Clinical experience is inversely related to IP and AT.  Almost half of early-career PTs feel like impostors, which can lead to decreased job satisfaction, burnout, psychological distress, feelings of self-doubt, and depression.