At one point or another during the working phase of their lives, people experience the feelings of inadequacy and imposter phenomenon- a term defining an experience and feeling of fraudulence and phoniness about one’s achievements and success. The three distinct but similar traits of the dark triad of personality (Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy) sharing a chief characteristic of callous-manipulation and always striving to be best at their work are more likely to manifest lack of confidence and self-doubt. The Imposter Phenomenon has previously not been studied in relation to any of the Dark Triad traits of personality and thus the aim of the present study was to determine the impact of dark triad on imposter phenomenon in the private sector employees. A sample of 200 regular employees falling in the age group 25-40 years, of a private sector organization was taken to study the same. The results indicated that the imposter phenomenon is significantly predicted by the dark triad traits (adjusted R²=0.030, p<.01). While Machiavellianism (r=0.305, p<.001) and Psychopathy (r=0.157, p<0.05) shared a significant positive relation with the imposter phenomenon, Narcissism was not found to be significantly related to it. The present study might prove to be of use in identifying the concomitant factors underlying imposter phenomenon and the dark triad traits of personality.

Keywords: Imposter Phenomenon, Dark Triad Traits, Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy.