Impostor phenomenon and perfectionism among medical students at a medical faculty in the Central Anatolia Region of Türkiye: a cross-sectional study

The impostor phenomenon is a psychological pattern in which high-achieving individuals attribute their accomplishments to external factors such as luck rather than their own competence, and experience a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud. This study examined the impostor phenomenon, its relationship with perfectionism, and associated sociodemographic factors among medical students. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Turkey, during the 2022–2023 academic year. First-, fourth-, and sixth-year students were recruited to represent three critical academic transition points. The Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale and the Almost Perfect Scale–Revised were administered face-to-face in classroom settings. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc tests, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical multiple linear regression were used for analysis. Effect sizes were reported as Cohen’s d for two-group comparisons and eta-squared (η²) for comparisons involving three or more groups. A total of 386 students participated (Year 1: n = 112; Year 4: n = 138; Year 6: n = 136); 63.0% were female. Mean CIPS scores did not differ significantly across academic years (Year 1: 45.5 ± 12.5; Year 4: 45.7 ± 14.1; Year 6: 44.2 ± 13.6; p = 0.606). Female students scored significantly higher than males (47.2 ± 13.5 vs. 41.6 ± 12.5; p < 0.001; d = 0.43). Students wishing to leave medical school had higher scores (48.1 ± 13.5 vs. 43.1 ± 13.0; p < 0.001; d = 0.38). Self-comparison on social media was significantly associated with greater impostor feelings (48.8 ± 13.7 vs. 42.3 ± 12.8; p < 0.001; d = 0.50). In hierarchical multiple linear regression, the final model explained 47.7% of the variance in impostor scores, and Discrepancy remained the strongest independent correlate (β = 0.612; p < 0.001). In this single-institution sample, higher impostor scores were associated with female sex, social comparison behaviour, intention to leave medical school, and maladaptive perfectionism. Prospective controlled studies are needed to determine whether educational or support interventions addressing impostor-related distress and perfectionistic concerns improve student wellbeing or reduce attrition.