Exploring the relationships between emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and impostor syndrome among medical and nursing students: a multi-institutional cross-sectional study in Palestine

Impostor syndrome (IS) is a prevalent psychological challenge among healthcare students, characterized by persistent self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud despite objective evidence of competence. Although emotional intelligence (EI) and mindfulness have been proposed as protective psychological resources, their combined relationship with IS remains underexplored, particularly in conflict-affected settings. This study examined the associations between trait EI, mindfulness, and IS among medical and nursing students in Palestine. A multi-institutional cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2025 and February 2026 across five universities in the West Bank, Palestine. A total of 1,065 students (654 medical, 411 nursing) completed an online questionnaire comprising the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF), the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (CIPS). Data were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and logistic regression. IS was defined as a CIPS score of 62 or higher. Nearly half of participants (45.45%) reported frequent or intense impostor experiences; a similar percentage (45.82%) reported moderate IS experiences, and only 8.73% had few impostor feelings. Medical students scored significantly higher on the CIPS than nursing students (62.63 vs. 58.75, P < 0.001). EI and mindfulness were each negatively correlated with IS ( r = − 0.470 and r = − 0.333, respectively; both P < 0.001) and positively correlated with each other ( r = 0.458, P < 0.001). In logistic regression, EI was the strongest independent protective factor (adjusted OR = 0.424, 95% CI: 0.347–0.517, P < 0.001), followed by mindfulness (adjusted OR = 0.774, 95% CI: 0.651–0.921, P = 0.004). Preclinical academic stage (adjusted OR = 1.491, P = 0.026) was independently associated with higher odds of IS. The model explained 18.8% of the variance. IS is highly prevalent among Palestinian medical and nursing students, with medical students being more affected. Our findings suggest that EI and mindfulness may serve as protective factors against IS and that EI- and mindfulness-focused curricular content may be a worthwhile area for future interventional study, particularly during preclinical years in conflict-affected educational settings.