Initial construction and validation of the Racialized Impostor Phenomenon Scale

This article described the initial development and validation of the Racialized Impostor Phenomenon Scale (RIPS). The RIPS was designed to assess persistent beliefs, actions, and feelings of intellectual and professional self-doubt among Black individuals due to experiences, systems, and principles of racial oppression and inequity. The scale was constructed based on prior conceptual and empirical research on impostor phenomenon among Black individuals, and the initial pool of items received feedback from content experts. An exploratory factor analysis conducted among 398 Black individuals suggested a three-factor solution: internalized racial doubt, racialized burden to prove, and externalized racial doubt. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted within a sample of 364 Black individuals, indicated that the three-factor model was an excellent fit of the data. Measurement invariance was also assessed and results suggested that the RIPS measures racialized impostor phenomenon similarly across Black men and women. Construct validity was also examined, with results demonstrating that the RIPS was positively associated with general assessments of impostor phenomenon, racism-related experiences, negative mental health, and negatively associated with self-esteem. Collective results provide initial evidence to support the RIPS as a viable and culturally relevant assessment of impostor cognitions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).