Over half (53%) of British women suffer with imposter syndrome, with mid-late twenties the age it is at its peak.

The study, commissioned by confectionary brand Galaxy®, has revealed that women who experience imposter syndrome do so across multiple areas of their lives including the workplace (72%), friendships (29%), education (29%), romantic relationships (24%), when parenting (18%) and in the gym (16%).

The issue can be so impactful that over one in five women who’ve experienced imposter syndrome (22%) said that it stopped them from making friends and almost one in seven women who’ve experienced imposter syndrome (14%) have quit a job because of it.

Comparatively the majority of men admit they only ever feel like an imposter in the workplace (63%) and over half (54%) say they have never felt it at all.

Imposter syndrome refers to unfounded feelings of self-doubt and/or incompetence; the self-imposed feeling of being underqualified for a task or relationship and it only being a matter of time before being discovered as a fraud.

The study also revealed the triggers of imposter syndrome for women, with a constant comparison to others (44%) and perfectionism (30%) amongst the top causes.

The top ten causes of imposter syndrome amongst women:

1. Lack of confidence (63%)

2. Comparing self to others (44%)

3. Perfectionism (30%)

4. Lack of mental support (23%)

5. The pressure to have it all (20%)

6. Hostile environments (19%)

7. Not having the right style (17%)

8. Peer rivalry (16%)

9. Social media (15%)

10. Lack of open communication (15%)

In response to this research, Galaxy® has teamed up with Young Women’s Trust on a long-term partnership to support their mission and provide coaching for young women to help them thrive.

Galaxy is creating the How to Thrive series, providing a frank and positive look at the causes and solutions to feeling like an imposter. The vlog series, launched by TV star AJ Odudu, will feature interviews with inspirational women who will share their personal stories and experiences of imposter syndrome, offering tips on how to overcome these feelings.

AJ Odudu said; “Imposter syndrome can be a crippling entity which impacts so many areas of everyday life. It can consume you whilst on social media, it can take over when away from home for the first time at university, it can also have an impact when forging friendships.

As someone that has faced it regularly in the past, it’s been a pleasure working on this content series with Galaxy® where I get to work alongside some incredible people and hopefully provide some tangible advice for women across the UK.”

Victoria Gell, Galaxy® Brand Director said; “Our ambition for Galaxy is to empower young women, creating a ripple effect of women who then go on to enable the next generation to thrive. From the work we do supporting women in our cocoa growing regions with education, finance support and entrepreneurship, to campaigns such as this, we want to help make a difference.”

Claire Reindorp, CEO at Young Women’s Trust said: “Young women face many challenges reaching their potential, progressing in life and earning what they should. They’re more likely to be in lower paid jobs and sectors of the economy and more likely to get stuck there. At a time in life when women should be growing and learning, they’re instead too often trapped in a struggle just to get by. I am delighted that Galaxy is helping us to tackle this head-on, by funding our coaching service which helps young women to increase their incomes and their confidence.”

The study of 4,000 Brits, including 2,000 women, revealed that symptoms of imposter syndrome start on average at 23 years old for women, with a huge 62% admitting that throughout their lives they have rarely experienced true confidence.

The research also revealed that the majority of women surveyed (79%) believe social media has a hand in the rise of imposter syndrome.

Interestingly, men are also more likely to try and deal with feelings of imposter syndrome (46%) than women (30%). In fact, the majority of women said that they have never spoken openly about their experiences (68%), demonstrating that there’s an urgent need for support for women in this area.

Half of women (50%) dealing with the issue said explicitly that they believe they just need learn to live with it. Of those women who do address the problem, only 22% felt like their attempts to resolve imposter were successful compared to 45% of men.