Illegitimacy Syndrome: What It Is And How It Affects Us
For things in life, one can start studying psychology and then study engineering. Others start with graphic design and finish with a degree in classical philology. There are many who accumulate disparate training just for the mere desire to learn, but forgetting to envision a clear and objective training direction.
The illegitimacy syndrome is increasingly present, especially in people whose minds are restless and want to know a little about everything, but nothing in depth. This syndrome usually occurs when we resort to a diffuse and heterogeneous academic training.
This syndrome can be an obstacle when looking for a job, both due to the fact that specialized profiles are usually sought in the labor market and due to the self-perception of feeling that one is less expert than others. Let’s take a closer look at the characteristics of illegitimacy syndrome
There are more and more people whose resumes are very diverse, accumulating titles that do not seem to have much relationship with each other. People who, for example, first studied engineering and then decided to try fine arts. Or people who first did Hispanic Philology and then did Psychology. There are those who first studied chemistry and then philosophy. The list of examples is infinite, with all possible combinations.
What all people whose educational backgrounds are this disparate have in common is that They know a lot of things but not at an expert level as would be expected of someone who had continued down one and the same path.
Their passion for studying and not wanting to fit into a single profession or branch has meant that they have ventured into learning many different things, sometimes giving them the feeling of not even mastering the knowledge they do possess. They feel that their desire for knowledge has made them worthless, and that is why they suffer from illegitimacy syndrome.
The illegitimacy syndrome could be summarized in a single phrase: I like everything, but I’m not good at anything This peculiar syndrome defines more and more people, restless minds that want to know everything but in practice feel that they do not know anything in depth. It happens when we have been studying everything, having a dispersed and heterogeneous academic training. Without realizing it, we are accumulating courses on very different topics, carried out out of the mere desire to learn, but losing sight of the clear and organized professional direction that we should have.
For example, a person who has studied Psychology wants a change of scenery and now decides to prepare to be a physical education teacher because he really likes sports. He finishes those studies and decides to continue his training, this time with a language. He begins studying German but, after a little while, opts for another simpler language. At the end of all this and despite having the training, he gives him the feeling of not being an expert in anything and, when he goes to apply for a job as a psychologist or gym teacher, feels that they have to compete with many other professionals whose resumes are more specialized
This dispersed and, why not say, chaotic trajectory ends up being problematic because a lot of money and time has been invested in being a person who, basically, is an expert in nothing. And in the world we live in, having extremely dispersed resumes is a huge disadvantage, even though the more knowledge we have, the better.
Society becomes increasingly competitive, offering all types of extremely specialized positions. Very specific profiles are needed, who expertly master a specific discipline or branch It requires people who, after having finished their degree, training cycle or whatever training, have continued studying along the same path and have become increasingly more concretized as expert professionals in a subject. In terms of work, the more expert in something, the better.
Clinical psychologists, electrical engineers, pharmacy assistants, otorhinolaryngologists, early childhood education teachers… all of these and many other professions are profiles of people who first studied a career and then continued studying something related. In this way they have become expert professionals in subjects that they had already studied before, establishing their knowledge well.
The opposite case, People with very diverse educations do not necessarily have to have little job success However, the feeling that having studied everything can give them will help them form the idea that since they are not experts in something specific they are not worth it and, as we have mentioned, this works against them.
Furthermore, if your resume is extremely varied and there are no samples of expertise anywhere, your job success will be less. It is unlikely that a psychologist who has completed a degree in Catalan philology or a doctor who has obtained a degree in economics, for example, is needed.
General studies
At this point we understand the importance of having completed several training courses that are related to each other, but it also happens that there are careers that in themselves are very general. A case of them is Psychology, whose university degree offers a varied range of subjects that touch on everything about the mind and human behaviors: clinical psychology, education, statistics, biology, social, psycholinguistics…
Psychology students, once they have finished their degree, have the sensation of many things, but with little depth, that is, they feel the illegitimacy syndrome. And if on top of that you get the feeling that a psychology degree is great for you, something typical of another famous syndrome, that of the imposter, this can greatly discourage them from looking for a job and gaining experience. It may even make them consider starting another career, believing that the four years they have dedicated to obtaining a psychologist degree have not been of much use to them.
Fortunately, this has an easy solution by deciding to enroll in postgraduate training, a master’s degree or looking for a job based on what they have studied directly. The feeling of illegitimacy syndrome will end up fading once they see that they are becoming experts in a certain subject be it psychologists or any other career.
Illegitimacy syndrome can manifest itself in many ways. It is important not to confuse it with imposter syndrome, a condition in which a person is an expert on a certain topic but feels that they do not have enough knowledge or experience with it.
In the case of illegitimacy syndrome, it really There is no expertise or, if there is, it is hidden beneath other titles and training that have nothing to do with it There is the feeling that one knows a lot but with little depth, as we have already commented.
People who suffer from illegitimacy syndrome have profiles perceived as too general, accumulating many skills, studies and skills. As it ends up giving them the feeling that he who covers a lot, pushes little, they begin to perceive themselves as a fraud. This excessively heterogeneous and shallow training, combined with their insecurity, can place them at a certain disadvantage compared to professionals who do have a specialized profile.
Nowadays the demand for specialized professionals is increasingly higher, something that has its origins in World War II. After the conflict, many cities were devastated, so much so that although all labor was welcome, people were needed who knew how to rebuild them intelligently and effectively. Skilled, expert and effective labor was necessary in specific areas. This perspective created a new framework in the field of work and training, which remains in force today.
The illegitimacy syndrome and talent
As we were saying, people with illegitimacy syndrome perceive themselves as individuals who know a little about everything but nothing in depth, as a result of having wanted to study very varied things. The problem with this, leaving aside the job implications, is that they think they lack talent because they don’t excel at something specific. They are not geniuses in mathematics or letters, but curious minds that jumped from one subject to another.
This perception is the result of a mistaken idea of what talent is. It is common for schools to say that a child is talented when he excels in a subject. However, research in this matter points out something important regarding what talent is, as is the case of research carried out at the Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic).
From his studio, talent is understood as a skill that must be educated through motivation Without effort or will, an aptitude can come to nothing. People with varied and heterogeneous knowledge are motivated by curiosity, by the desire to have knowledge, what happens is that if there is something that motivates them at first, after a while something else arouses interest in them and for that reason their curriculum It can be so varied.
When a person has knowledge of several areas but does not feel that they really excel in anything may perceive themselves as a fraud This can have the negative consequence that he or she opts for jobs that require less training than he or she has, inferior jobs that he or she considers suitable because he or she is perceived as a “non-expert” and, therefore, will be able to perform them.
The illegitimacy syndrome is experienced by many students who have just finished their degree or other training, especially if they are psychology-style courses whose training curricula are already very varied.
This causes them to perceive themselves as not very valid. When they look at job offers they feel that they are not up to the task. Lack of experience and the perception of not having yet acquired the required skills hold them back when applying for any job proposal related to what they have studied.
This happens both to recent graduates and to those with very heterogeneous training. When you have experience and knowledge but dispersed, you assume that it will be difficult to get hired. These are people who doubt their legitimacy because they don’t believe they are experts in anything. This is where social comparison comes into play by Leon Festinger, a social psychologist who explained very well how people sometimes become obsessed with thinking that others are better than us. We minimize our capabilities only because we do not have a track record that we believe would be specialized.
You may be interested: “5 keys to successfully searching for a job (and not dying trying)”
Heterogeneity as an advantage
Although the ideal is to have a specialized resume, this does not mean that being a curious person, eager for knowledge and interested in all kinds of things should be a problem. We live in a time in which, although specialization is valued, professionals who are flexible and willing to learn new things are also required, either to expand their field of intervention or to update their knowledge.
In a dynamic society, generalist and heterogeneous profiles are valuable It is true that a profile that is too heterogeneous may indicate that the person is undecided as to what they wanted to study, but it may also happen that they are interested in so many things that they have simply been doing a little of everything at their own pace. You may have multiple transversal skills and abilities, you may actually be an expert in some of them, and what has happened is that you simply have a curious mind that has wanted to go beyond a specific field of study.
People who are interested in many things and excel at them are what have been called T or renaissance personalities, skilled in several areas. Behind them there may be high abilities and talents, or also a great effort and motivation to learn. There are more and more They can be a career gold mine, a diamond in the rough that should not be ignored Specialization is not everything in this life.
