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Gender Stigma Consciousness, Imposter Phenomenon, and Self-Silencing: A Mediational Relationship

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Abstract

Gender stigma consciousness (GSC) is one of the relevant aspects of an individual’s experiences, especially for women. The current study was an attempt to investigate whether gender stigma consciousness significantly impacts the imposter phenomenon (IP) (a self-perception of intellectual fraudulence despite having objective and consistent career accomplishments) and self-silencing (SS) (suppression of genuine emotions and opinions in intimate partner relationships). Moreover, this study investigated whether the imposter phenomenon mediates the relationship between gender stigma consciousness and self-silencing. To address these research objectives, this survey-based quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 237 female software engineers in India. The data have been analyzed by using structural equation modeling, where a mediational model that connects gender stigma consciousness, imposter phenomenon, and self-silencing was tested. The findings revealed that gender stigma consciousness significantly predicts the imposter phenomenon and self-silencing. Further, the imposter phenomenon mediates the relationship between gender stigma consciousness and self-silencing.

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  1. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM) Dhanbad, Dhanbad, India

    Sucharita Maji

  2. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India

    Shikha Dixit

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SM and SD conceptualized the study. SM collected and analyzed the data under the guidance of SD. SM prepared results draft and prepared first manuscript draft. SD reviewed and commented on the draft. SM incorporated suggestions and prepared the final draft for submission.

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Correspondence to Sucharita Maji.

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Maji, S., Dixit, S. Gender Stigma Consciousness, Imposter Phenomenon, and Self-Silencing: A Mediational Relationship. Psychol Stud (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-023-00724-8

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