We all wear glasses that distort our vision. Most people call it "bias" or "prejudice", but for psychologists, these schemas and core beliefs. Usually, we consider the bias as something that affects the way we see others. But it can also affect how we see ourselves.
Imagine two accounting expertise in two very well-managed companies. One of them thinks he is a genius, while the other feels like an impostor. What would happen if they were preparing a spreadsheet with an unexplained loss of a million dollars?
Well, genius could tell his boss panicked verify the figures that have been provided. He never again question his own work. The first thing would be to check the impostor his work, because he is still trying to compensate for what it perceives as shortcomings.
If the boss would see the book "imposter" to warn that he was given the wrong numbers and say "We corrected our mistake and everything balances. Good work! Thank you! "How to react accountant?
There is a good chance it snaps still in question. He could say "I have not even checked the figures. What an idiot! "Or:" It was a simple spreadsheet. A donkey could do. "In other words, the individual who has a low self-esteem find a way to blame for the mistake of others, or diminish the importance of good work. It will continue to believe idiot.
All prejudices are confirmed for themselves. These are the filters that distort the way we see things. Our prejudices against other fuel intolerance. Applied to ourselves, they feed the ego of "genius" and the Imposter Syndrome at the "idiot".