Correlates of Impostor Phenomenon Among Indonesian Sports Science Students

This single-center, cross-sectional study evaluated the psychiatric correlates of the impostor phenomenon among sports science undergraduates at a public university in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, from June to August 2025. Specifically, the study quantified the relative contributions of self-esteem and anxiety alongside related psychological, behavioral, and structural factors.

BACKGROUND:

Impostor phenomenon, defined as a persistent sense of intellectual phoniness despite objective competence, is an established psychological construct associated with elevated emotional distress and impaired functioning across academic and professional populations. Although historically studied among high-achieving women, recent evidence indicates it spans disciplines and cultures. Low self-esteem functions as a primary self-evaluative substrate that heightens threat appraisal, while anxiety acts as a state-dependent amplifier; modifiable behavioral factors (e.g., shorter sleep duration, heavy comparison-oriented social media use) and demographic/structural indicators further sustain this cycle. Three gaps justify the present study: (1) prior research is concentrated on medical, nursing, and doctoral cohorts in high-income Western or Middle Eastern settings, leaving Southeast Asian (including Indonesian) undergraduate populations underrepresented; (2) most studies use bivariate designs, leaving unclear which correlates retain independent predictive value when evaluated jointly; and (3) structural/institutional proxies (e.g., scholarship status, residential arrangement) are often assumed to reflect socioeconomic vulnerability without formal multivariate testing net of psychological and behavioral domains. To address these empirical gaps, this cross-sectional study investigates the psychiatric dimensions of the impostor phenomenon by examining how self-esteem and anxiety interact within psychological and structural domains among sports science students in Indonesia.

STUDY DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS:

This study adhered to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines and used a structured, self-administered cross-sectional survey among eligible third-year undergraduates. Of 524 students screened, 55 were excluded for semester ineligibility (n = 22), insufficient Bahasa Indonesia proficiency (n = 18), or refusal of contact (n = 15). Of the 469 invited, 438 provided complete responses (response rate = 93.4%) and were analyzed; 31 were excluded for incomplete responses (n = 6), refusal of consent (n = 12), active psychiatric treatment (n = 9), or documented substance use disorder (n = 4). Minimal missing data were handled via listwise deletion. Eligible participants were male and female sports science undergraduates in semesters three or four, proficient in Bahasa Indonesia, who provided written informed consent; those with a history of treated psychiatric disorders, active substance use disorder, or incomplete responses were excluded.

MEASURES AND INSTRUMENTS:

The primary outcome, impostor phenomenon, was assessed with the Indonesian-adapted Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), a 20-item, 5-point Likert instrument (total score range 20-100; higher scores indicate greater severity; Cronbach's α = 0.82-0.85), classified into four severity categories: none/minimal (20-39), moderate (40-59), frequent (60-79), and intense (≥80). Psychological predictors comprised self-esteem, measured with the 10-item Indonesian-adapted Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; range 10-40; categorized as low [10-20], moderate [21-30], high [31-40]), and anxiety, measured with the Indonesian-adapted Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7; range 0-21; categorized as minimal [0-4], mild [5-9], moderate [10-14], severe [≥15]). Behavioral predictors were nightly sleep duration (hours) and daily social media use (hours/day). Demographic and structural covariates included sex, age, cumulative grade point average (GPA), scholarship status (recipient vs. non-recipient), residential status (with family vs. independent/dormitory), and organizational/extracurricular participation.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

Analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 for descriptive, correlational, and primary regression procedures, and R version 4.x for robust and quantile regression techniques unavailable in SPSS. Instrument reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha. Shapiro-Wilk testing indicated significant departures from normality, supporting non-parametric summaries and inferential tests. Bivariate associations were examined using Spearman rank correlations; group differences were assessed with Mann-Whitney U tests and rank-biserial correlations as effect sizes. Independent predictors were identified via simultaneous-entry multiple linear regression, and domain-specific contributions were clarified through a three-block hierarchical regression: psychological factors (Step 1), behavioral factors (Step 2), and demographic/structural covariates (Step 3), with incremental variance and F-change statistics computed at each step. Model robustness was evaluated using Huber-Yohai M-estimation, median quantile regression, and bootstrap bias-corrected and accelerated confidence intervals (5,000 resamples). Diagnostics included residual normality (Shapiro-Wilk), homoscedasticity (Breusch-Pagan test), multicollinearity (variance inflation factor and tolerance), residual independence (Durbin-Watson statistic), and influential-case detection (Cook's distance). Post-hoc statistical power was estimated using G*Power 3.1 (medium effect size, α = 0.05, ten predictors). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

ETHICAL APPROVAL:

Ethical clearance was granted by the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee on Humans, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University (approval code: PROTOKOL-UH25010017), in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013 revision). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants, with explicit assurance that participation was voluntary and withdrawal at any stage would carry no penalty or academic consequence. No personally identifiable information was collected or disclosed.

NOTE: This study was retrospectively registered. The study was conducted from June 2025 to August 2025 following the STROBE guidelines and received ethical clearance (PROTOKOL-UH25010017) from the Institutional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee of Hasanuddin University prior to study initiation. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. No outcome measures, study design, or statistical analysis plan were modified following data collection.

Inclusion criteria

• Active undergraduate students enrolled in semesters 3 or 4 within the sports science program at a public university in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
• Adequate proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia
• Provision of written informed consent to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

• Documented history of active or treated psychiatric disorders
• Documented history of substance use disorders
• Incomplete survey responses or refusal to provide consent