Wellbeing & growth · LIS
Impostorism scale
How true is each statement of you?
Timeframe: your experience in general
For self-understanding only, not a diagnosis · you can exit anytime; answers are not saved or uploaded
About this instrument
The LIS (Leary Impostorism Scale) measures the impostor experience — feeling like a fraud despite objective success, attributing achievements to luck, and fearing exposure. Answer for how you genuinely feel.
The LIS was developed by social psychologist Mark Leary and colleagues (2000). Its seven items target the three core components of the impostor experience: feeling like a fraud, attributing success externally (luck), and anticipating exposure.
Seven items sum to 7-35; higher scores mean stronger impostor feelings. Bands shown are descriptive — published sample means sit around 18-20.
Impostorism correlates poorly with actual ability. It reflects a habitual attribution style — success goes to luck, failure goes to self.
Source: Leary Impostorism Scale (Leary et al., 2000) · The scale is publicly distributed on the author's Duke University page for research and educational use; Chinese items are our careful translation. · Original source
Item preview (7)
How true is each statement of you?
- When people praise me for something I've accomplished, I'm afraid I won't be able to live up to their expectations of me in the future
- At times, I feel my success has been due to some kind of luck
- Sometimes I'm afraid others will discover how much knowledge or ability I really lack
- When I've succeeded at something and received recognition for my accomplishment, I have doubts that I can keep repeating that success
- I often compare my ability to those around me and think they may be more intelligent than I am
- If I receive a great deal of praise and recognition for something I've accomplished, I tend to discount the importance of what I've done
- I often feel that I don't really deserve the recognition or success I've achieved