Project – Perfectionism and Impostor Feelings among Postgraduate Students: A Study of Postgraduate Students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Postgraduate education represents an important stage of advanced academic and professional development in which students are expected to demonstrate higher levels of intellectual independence, critical thinking, research competence and scholarly productivity. Unlike many undergraduate programmes, postgraduate study often requires students to formulate research problems, engage extensively with scholarly literature, work independently with supervisors, publish or disseminate research findings, and meet demanding academic standards. These expectations can create considerable pressure, particularly where students perceive academic success as requiring consistently exceptional performance. Rice et al. (2003) noted that perfectionism is relevant to students’ psychological adjustment because the pursuit of excessively high standards may become problematic when individuals evaluate themselves harshly or perceive ordinary mistakes as evidence of personal inadequacy. In postgraduate education, where academic evaluation is continuous and expectations may be less clearly defined, such tendencies may become particularly important for understanding students’ academic experiences.

Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality characteristic involving the pursuit of extremely high standards and, in its maladaptive forms, excessive concern about mistakes, doubts about one’s actions and perceived discrepancies between actual and ideal performance. Hewitt and Flett (1991) distinguished between self-oriented perfectionism, other-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism, thereby demonstrating that perfectionism can arise from internal standards as well as perceived expectations from other people. More recent research has similarly distinguished between perfectionistic strivings, which involve the pursuit of high standards, and perfectionistic concerns, which involve excessive self-criticism and fear of failing to meet standards. Hill and Gotwals (2025), in a meta-analysis involving 25 studies and more than 12,000 participants, found that perfectionistic concerns had a substantially stronger relationship with impostor phenomenon than perfectionistic strivings. This distinction is particularly important among postgraduate students because the desire for academic excellence may be beneficial, whereas persistent fear of mistakes and perceived inadequacy may undermine students’ confidence and wellbeing.

The academic environment can provide conditions in which perfectionistic tendencies become particularly pronounced. Postgraduate students are often evaluated through examinations, seminars, presentations, research proposals, dissertations, publications and interactions with supervisors and academic colleagues. Because these activities frequently involve expert evaluation, students who attach their self-worth to academic performance may become excessively concerned about making mistakes or receiving negative feedback. Flett et al. (2016) argued that perfectionistic concerns can become particularly harmful when individuals believe that their social environment demands flawless performance. Evidence from graduate students supports this concern. Rice et al. (2018) found that perfectionism predicted academic stress, impostor syndrome and communication anxiety among graduate students, while perfectionistic self-presentation provided additional explanatory power beyond trait perfectionism. This suggests that postgraduate students may experience not only internal pressure to perform well but also pressure to appear competent in front of supervisors, lecturers and academic peers.

Closely associated with perfectionism is the phenomenon commonly referred to as impostor feelings or the impostor phenomenon. Clance and Imes (1978), who introduced the concept, described the phenomenon among high-achieving individuals who nevertheless experience persistent doubts about their abilities and attribute their accomplishments to factors such as luck, timing or excessive effort rather than genuine competence. Individuals experiencing impostor feelings may therefore perform successfully but remain unable to internalise their achievements as evidence of ability. Cisco (2020) found that impostor phenomenon was widespread among postgraduate students and that many participants associated their feelings with concerns that they were academically unprepared, particularly in reading, writing and discussing academic work. The postgraduate environment may therefore provide a particularly important setting for examining impostor feelings because students are expected to operate at increasingly advanced levels while simultaneously confronting unfamiliar academic tasks and high expectations.

Perfectionism and impostor feelings may reinforce one another because students who establish unrealistically high standards may interpret anything short of flawless performance as evidence that they are not genuinely capable. When a student succeeds, perfectionistic thinking may cause the achievement to be dismissed as insufficient, accidental or the result of excessive effort; when the student encounters difficulty, the difficulty may be interpreted as confirmation of inadequacy. Pannhausen, Klug and Rohrmann (2022) found that dimensions of perfectionistic concern, including doubts about actions, concern over mistakes and socially prescribed perfectionism, were effective predictors of impostor phenomenon, whereas perfectionistic striving was less strongly associated with impostor feelings. Similarly, Cokley et al. (2018) found that self-esteem partly mediated the relationship between perfectionism and impostor phenomenon, indicating that the way students evaluate themselves may help explain why perfectionistic tendencies are associated with feelings of fraudulence. These findings suggest that perfectionism should not be treated as a uniformly positive or negative characteristic; rather, the particular dimension of perfectionism experienced by a student may determine whether it promotes achievement or contributes to self-doubt.

The relationship between perfectionism and impostor feelings is particularly relevant to students in higher education because these experiences can affect academic performance, psychological adjustment, interpersonal relationships and future career decisions. Ménard (2023), in a review of research on impostor phenomenon among post-secondary students, reported that impostor feelings are widespread among students and are associated with self-esteem and several aspects of mental health and academic functioning. Pákozdy et al. (2024) similarly found among university students that impostor phenomenon was positively associated with maladaptive perfectionism and negatively associated with self-efficacy and happiness. Such findings are important because postgraduate students are expected to develop confidence as independent researchers and professionals. Persistent feelings of being an intellectual fraud may discourage students from participating actively in academic discussions, seeking opportunities, submitting manuscripts, presenting research or pursuing competitive academic and professional positions.

The issue is therefore particularly important in the context of postgraduate education in Nigeria, where postgraduate students operate within an academic environment characterised by demanding research requirements, supervisory expectations, publication pressures, examinations and competition for academic and professional opportunities. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, as a major Nigerian institution of higher learning, provides an appropriate setting for examining these experiences because its postgraduate students engage in advanced academic training across numerous disciplines and are expected to meet institutional requirements for successful completion of their programmes. Although international research has established important relationships between perfectionism, academic stress and impostor feelings, there remains a need for context-specific evidence concerning how these experiences manifest among postgraduate students within Nigerian universities. Research conducted elsewhere cannot automatically be assumed to represent the experiences of postgraduate students in Nigeria because academic cultures, supervisory relationships, socioeconomic conditions and expectations concerning educational achievement may differ across contexts. Recent research among graduate students has demonstrated that perfectionism is particularly associated with impostor feelings when students perceive themselves as falling short of their desired research productivity, reinforcing the need to investigate this relationship directly among postgraduate students. Therefore, examining perfectionism and impostor feelings among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is important for understanding the psychological and academic experiences that may influence their postgraduate education.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Postgraduate education is expected to develop advanced knowledge, independent research competence and professional expertise, yet the demands associated with postgraduate study can expose students to considerable academic and psychological pressure. Students are expected to produce high-quality research, satisfy supervisors, complete demanding coursework, meet deadlines and demonstrate scholarly independence. While high academic standards may encourage diligence and achievement, excessive concern about mistakes and persistent dissatisfaction with one’s performance may produce maladaptive perfectionism. Rice et al. (2018) found that perfectionism was associated with academic stress and impostor syndrome among graduate students, suggesting that students who constantly evaluate themselves against demanding standards may experience significant academic difficulties. The problem is that perfectionism is sometimes viewed exclusively as a desirable academic characteristic, thereby making it difficult to distinguish healthy striving for excellence from perfectionistic concerns that may undermine students’ confidence and wellbeing.

A related problem is the persistence of impostor feelings among academically capable students. Postgraduate students may obtain good grades, complete research tasks and receive positive feedback from lecturers while nevertheless believing that they are not genuinely competent. They may attribute their achievements to luck, assistance from others or excessive effort and fear that their perceived lack of ability will eventually be discovered. Cisco (2020) found that many postgraduate students experienced impostor phenomenon and linked those feelings to perceptions of being academically unprepared. This creates a potentially harmful situation in which objectively successful students may experience subjective failure. If such feelings persist, students may become reluctant to participate in seminars, defend their research ideas, seek academic opportunities or communicate confidently with supervisors and colleagues.

Another problem concerns the possible relationship between perfectionism and impostor feelings. Although both concepts have been extensively studied internationally, perfectionism is multidimensional and does not necessarily produce the same consequences for every student. Healthy pursuit of excellence may motivate students to work hard and improve their performance, whereas perfectionistic concerns involving fear of mistakes, self-criticism and perceived external expectations may increase vulnerability to impostor feelings. Pannhausen et al. (2022) demonstrated that maladaptive dimensions of perfectionism were stronger predictors of impostor phenomenon than perfectionistic striving, while Hill and Gotwals (2025) reported a large relationship between perfectionistic concerns and impostor phenomenon across the studies included in their meta-analysis. The problem, therefore, is not simply whether postgraduate students are perfectionists, but whether particular forms of perfectionism are associated with the experience of feeling academically fraudulent.

Finally, there is a contextual research problem. A substantial proportion of the existing literature on perfectionism and impostor feelings has been conducted outside Nigeria, while studies specifically examining postgraduate students within Nigerian universities remain comparatively limited. Even though findings from international studies provide important theoretical and empirical foundations, the experiences of Nigerian postgraduate students may be shaped by local academic, cultural, socioeconomic and institutional conditions. Furthermore, existing studies have frequently examined university students generally or graduate students in other countries rather than focusing specifically on postgraduate students at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Ménard (2023) identified the need for greater understanding of impostor phenomenon among post-secondary students, while recent graduate-student research has demonstrated the importance of examining perfectionism and impostor feelings together. Consequently, there is a need for empirical research to determine whether perfectionism is significantly related to impostor feelings among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Addressing this gap may provide useful evidence for postgraduate administrators, supervisors, counsellors and students in developing strategies for promoting healthy academic striving while reducing maladaptive self-doubt.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between perfectionism and impostor feelings among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Specifically, the study seeks to:

1. determine the level of perfectionism among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka;
2. determine the level of impostor feelings among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka;
3. identify the dominant dimensions of perfectionism experienced by the postgraduate students;
4. examine the extent to which perfectionistic concerns are associated with impostor feelings among postgraduate students.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study:

1. What is the level of perfectionism among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka?
2. What is the level of impostor feelings among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka?
3. What dimensions of perfectionism are most prominent among the postgraduate students?
4. To what extent are perfectionistic concerns associated with impostor feelings among postgraduate students?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

The following null hypothesis will be tested at the 0.05 level of significance:

H₀: There is no significant relationship between perfectionism and impostor feelings among postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study will be significant to postgraduate students because it may help them recognise the difference between healthy academic striving and maladaptive perfectionism. Understanding the relationship between perfectionism and impostor feelings may enable students to recognise patterns of excessive self-criticism, fear of mistakes and difficulty accepting academic achievements.

The study will also be useful to postgraduate supervisors and lecturers. The findings may help supervisors recognise students who demonstrate excessive fear of failure, unrealistic academic expectations or persistent doubts about their abilities. Such awareness may promote more constructive feedback and supervisory practices.

University administrators and postgraduate school authorities may benefit from the findings by gaining evidence that can inform student-support initiatives. The university may use the findings to strengthen orientation programmes, academic skills workshops, mentoring systems and psychological support services for postgraduate students.

The study will be significant to university counsellors and mental-health professionals because it may provide empirical information about factors associated with impostor feelings among postgraduate students. Such information may support the development of interventions focused on self-esteem, academic confidence, coping strategies and realistic performance expectations.

Researchers and scholars will benefit from the study because it will contribute to the literature on perfectionism, impostor phenomenon and postgraduate education in Nigeria. The study may also provide a foundation for comparative research across Nigerian universities and different categories of students.

Finally, the study may be useful to educational policymakers and higher-education stakeholders by drawing attention to the psychological dimensions of postgraduate education. While academic standards are necessary for maintaining educational quality, institutional structures may also need to promote student wellbeing and healthy approaches to achievement.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study will focus on Perfectionism and Impostor Feelings among Postgraduate Students, with particular reference to postgraduate students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State, Nigeria.

The study will examine perfectionism in terms of dimensions such as:

• self-oriented perfectionism;
• socially prescribed perfectionism;
• perfectionistic concerns;
• concern over mistakes;
• doubts about actions; and
• unrealistic academic standards.

Impostor feelings will be examined in relation to:

• feelings of intellectual fraudulence;
• inability to internalise success;
• attribution of success to luck or external factors;
• fear of being exposed as incompetent;
• self-doubt concerning academic ability; and
• fear of academic failure or negative evaluation.

The study will be limited to postgraduate students enrolled at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It will not cover undergraduate students, staff members or postgraduate students from other universities.

1.8 Operational Definition of Terms

Academic Achievement: The measurable level of success attained by a student in academic activities such as examinations, assignments, research and other academic requirements.

Impostor Feelings: Persistent feelings of self-doubt in which an individual questions his or her competence and fears being exposed as less capable than others believe, despite evidence of academic or professional achievement.

Impostor Phenomenon: A psychological experience characterised by difficulty internalising one’s accomplishments and attributing success to luck, external assistance or excessive effort rather than genuine ability.

Postgraduate Students: Students enrolled in advanced academic programmes leading to qualifications such as postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees or doctoral degrees.

Perfectionism: A tendency to establish excessively high standards for oneself or perceive exceptionally high standards from others, often accompanied by concerns about mistakes and dissatisfaction with one’s performance.

Perfectionistic Concerns: The maladaptive aspect of perfectionism involving excessive concern over mistakes, doubts about actions, fear of failure and perceived discrepancy between actual and desired performance.

Perfectionistic Strivings: The tendency to pursue high standards and ambitious goals, which may be adaptive when accompanied by realistic expectations and healthy self-evaluation.

Self-Oriented Perfectionism: The tendency to impose excessively high standards on oneself and critically evaluate one’s own performance.

Socially Prescribed Perfectionism: The perception that significant others or society expect an individual to perform perfectly and will negatively evaluate the individual when such expectations are not met.

Academic Self-Doubt: Uncertainty or lack of confidence concerning one’s intellectual ability, academic competence or capacity to succeed in academic tasks.

1.9 Organisation of the Study

The study will be organised into five chapters.

Chapter One will present the introduction to the study, comprising the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, research hypothesis, significance of the study, scope of the study, operational definition of terms and organisation of the study.

Chapter Two will review relevant literature on perfectionism, impostor feelings, postgraduate education, academic stress, self-esteem, academic self-efficacy and related psychological variables. The chapter will also present the theoretical framework and empirical review.

Chapter Three will discuss the methodology of the study, including research design, area of the study, population, sample size, sampling procedure, research instrument, validity and reliability, method of data collection and method of data analysis.

Chapter Four will present, analyse and interpret the data collected from the respondents. The findings will be presented according to the research questions and hypothesis.

Chapter Five will contain the summary of findings, conclusion and recommendations. Suggestions for further studies will also be presented.

Project – Perfectionism and Impostor Feelings among Postgraduate Students: A Study of Postgraduate Students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka