The motivational leveraging of impostor phenomenon to manage cognitive dissonance in graduate school: Individual behaviors, familial support, and empty support

Abdullah S. Salehuddin, Jaclyn R. Shetterly, Savana L. Robertson, Department of Communication Studies, University of Alabama

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

Published online on February 28, 2026

Abstract

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Ahead of Print.
This qualitative study investigates how individual behaviors and family support shape graduate students’ management of cognitive dissonance evoked by Impostor Phenomenon (IP) during graduate education. We surveyed current graduate students (N= 124) and ...