{"id":76155,"date":"2022-08-19T12:58:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T16:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=76155"},"modified":"2022-08-24T10:40:37","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:40:37","slug":"fear-of-success-psychology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear of Success: The Psychology of Self-Sabotage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Is the fear of success a thing? How does fear of success cause people to self-sabotage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The possibility of achieving significant success triggers irrational fear in many people. As they experience greater success and joy, they begin to unconsciously self-sabotage to bring themselves back to a level that they are used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about the psychology of the fear of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-fear-of-success\"><strong>Fear of Success<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Whereas perfectionism makes us avoid working because we fear failure, Fiore says that <strong>it\u2019s also possible <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/to-procrastinate\/\">to procrastinate<\/a> because we fear success<\/strong>. Fear of success can occur for several reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) We fear that we\u2019ll alienate our friends, colleagues, or family<\/strong> if we outperform them. For example, a straight-A student might deliberately reduce the effort she puts into her schoolwork for fear that her friends will brand her a \u201cnerd\u201d or \u201cteacher\u2019s pet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2) We\u2019re uneasy about the major life changes that sometimes come with success<\/strong>. For example, a successful job search might mean moving to a new place, adapting to a new social environment, and learning a new set of skills and responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3) We fear that succeeding will raise other people\u2019s expectations<\/strong> until we hit the point where we\u2019re guaranteed to disappoint them. For example, our hypothetical student might not <em>want <\/em>to earn straight As because she suspects that earning them once will make her parents and teachers expect her to earn them every semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Fiore largely describes the fear of success as a conscious phenomenon. However, other experts warn that we can also harbor <a href=\"https:\/\/positivepsychology.com\/self-sabotage\/\">such fears unconsciously<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/anxiety\/fear-of-success#what-it-looks-like\">express them in subtle ways<\/a>. In other words, it\u2019s possible that many people struggle with such fears without ever realizing it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>The Psychology of Fear of Success<\/strong><br><br>In addition to the reasons Fiore gives, experts speculate that there are even more reasons why we might fear success:<br><br><strong>1) Highly qualified people sometimes suffer from <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apa.org\/gradpsych\/2013\/11\/fraud\"><strong><em>impostor syndrome<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u2014the belief that you\u2019ve achieved your job or other position through luck and that you\u2019ll inevitably be revealed to be a fraud. If you experience impostor syndrome, you may fear that further successes only increase your risk of exposure.<br><br><strong>2) Women in particular might fear that <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1111\/j.1471-6402.2010.01561.x\"><strong>they\u2019ll face social backlash<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong>for defying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/traditional-gender-roles\/\">traditional gender roles<\/a> if they succeed at work (or other traditionally male domains).\u00a0<br><br><strong>3) We may have been taught as children not to get too full of ourselves<\/strong>, which can lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/anxiety\/fear-of-success#how-common-is-it\">holding ourselves back<\/a> to avoid future criticism.<br><br><strong>4) We might <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/be-uncomfortable\/\">be uncomfortable<\/a> with the idea of attracting attention<\/strong> through our successes and therefore hold back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/what-is-the-fear-of-success-5179184\">in order to avoid the spotlight<\/a>. Whatever the cause, fear of success is further complicated by the fact that you might be <a href=\"https:\/\/nickwignall.com\/fear-of-success\/\">embarrassed to admit<\/a> that you suffer from this fear. Many societies glorify success, so it can be easy to feel like there\u2019s something wrong with you if you\u2019re ambivalent about the idea of achievement.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is the fear of success a thing? How does fear of success cause people to self-sabotage? The possibility of achieving significant success triggers irrational fear in many people. As they experience greater success and joy, they begin to unconsciously self-sabotage to bring themselves back to a level that they are used to. Keep reading to learn about the psychology of the fear of success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43],"tags":[722],"class_list":["post-76155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-the-now-habit","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fear of Success: The Psychology of Self-Sabotage - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The possibility of achieving significant success triggers irrational fear in many people. 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Learn about the psychology behind fear of success.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-19T16:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-24T14:40:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/emotional-intelligence-sadkid.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"751\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"510\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Fear of Success: The Psychology of Self-Sabotage\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-19T16:58:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-24T14:40:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/\"},\"wordCount\":493,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/emotional-intelligence-sadkid.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Now Habit\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/\",\"name\":\"Fear of Success: The Psychology of Self-Sabotage - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fear-of-success-psychology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/emotional-intelligence-sadkid.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-19T16:58:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-24T14:40:37+00:00\",\"description\":\"The possibility of achieving significant success triggers irrational fear in many people. 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