Behold the best and worst of me: the impostor phenomenon and academic behavior in the business area,

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the impostor phenomenon (IP) and the academic behavior of stricto sensu postgraduate students in business area courses. Discussing the relationship between psychological variables and student academic behavior is a topic of interest as empirical evidence indicates that these variables affect the environment in which scientific research is developed. It is important to look for elements that help in understanding the IP in order to reduce its impacts on the performance, behavior, and feelings of students. Postgraduate students enrolled in stricto sensu courses may be refusing opportunities to advance in their professional careers and adopting behaviors that are discordant with those desired by universities because they feel like impostors in terms of their abilities. Besides the relevance of the relationships analyzed, this research also uses the Meurer and Costa Scale of Academic Behaviors - Stricto Sensu (MCSAB-SS), which can measure academic behaviors displayed in Brazilian postgraduate courses, enabling the development of new investigations into the topic. The population includes postgraduates enrolled in 2018 in academic master’s, professional master’s, and academic doctorate courses in administration, accounting, and economics, known as the business area. The data collection was operationalized via a survey carried out online, which obtained 1,816 valid participations. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and the Spearman’s correlation. Higher levels of impostor feelings are positively associated with displays of counterproductive academic behaviors and are mostly negatively associated with academic citizenship behaviors. After identifying the IP in students, actions to minimize these feelings can be implemented, given that postgraduate students with the IP may not be engaging in the activities that permeate stricto sensu, thus damaging the climate and culture of cooperation needed in academia.

摘要 本研究旨在分析冒名顶替综合征（impostor phenomenon，IP）与商科课程中严格意义上研究生的学术行为之间的关联。探讨心理变量与学生学术行为的关系是学界关注的重要议题，已有实证研究表明，此类变量会影响科学研究开展的环境。探寻有助于理解冒名顶替综合征的相关要素，以削弱其对学生学业表现、行为模式与心理感受的负面影响，具有重要学术价值。就读严格意义上研究生课程的学生，可能会因自感能力不足而陷入冒名顶替的心理困境，进而放弃职业发展机遇，并做出与高校期许相悖的行为。除本次研究分析的关联具有重要学术意义外，本调研还采用了《梅勒尔与科斯塔严格意义研究生学术行为量表（Meurer and Costa Scale of Academic Behaviors - Stricto Sensu, MCSAB-SS）》，该量表可用于测评巴西研究生的学术行为，为该领域的后续研究提供了可行工具。本次研究的总体为2018年注册就读工商管理、会计学与经济学（即商科领域）学术硕士、专业硕士与学术博士课程的研究生。数据采集通过线上问卷调查完成，共回收有效问卷1816份。研究采用描述统计、探索性因子分析与斯皮尔曼相关分析对数据进行处理，结果显示：更高程度的冒名顶替心理与反生产学术行为呈显著正相关，而与学术公民行为则多呈显著负相关。在识别出学生的冒名顶替综合征后，便可针对性采取措施缓解此类心理问题，因为存在冒名顶替心理的研究生可能无法参与严格意义研究生培养所需的各项活动，进而破坏学界亟需的合作氛围与文化环境。