Event
The Committee on the Status of Female Researchers and Researchers with Small Children of the Hungarian Young Academy will host a webinar on the topic of mental well-being on 22 May 2025 from 12:00-13:00 under the title “On the dark side of research careers: Perfectionism and the impostor syndrome”. The event will feature psychologists Dr. Tímea Olajos and Noémi Oláh.
The programme will be moderated by psychologist and HYA member Dr. Karolina Eszter Kovács.
Location:
https://zoom.us/j/92692424338?pwd=lbJgVrED3D9NwvGByS0koGZY2VoDva.1
Meeting ID: 926 9242 4338
Passcode: 321106
Invited speakers:
Dr. Tímea Olajos, psychologist (Debrecen University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Psychology, Department of Counselling, Development and Educational Psychology): The positive and negative aspects of perfectionism
Noémi Oláh, psychologist (Debrecen University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Psychology, Department of Counselling, Development and Educational Psychology): I am an impostor… or am I not? – A description of the impostor syndrome
Moderator:
Dr. Karolina Eszter Kovács (Debrecen University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Psychology, Department of Counselling, Development and Educational Psychology)
About the speakers:
Dr. Tímea Olajos is an associate professor (habil.) and Head of the Department of Counselling, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Debrecen University. She is a psychologist with a teaching degree, family therapist, and self-awareness and personality development trainer with a specialization in the gifted. Her research interest focuses on the personality development of the gifted, the study of socio-emotional domains and the characteristics of the twice-exceptional.
Noémi Oláh is a psychologist, and a first-year PhD student and assistant lecturer at the Department of Counselling, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Debrecen University. Her main research interest is the investigation of the impostor phenomenon, in particular among gifted adults.
The Hungarian Young Academy (HYA) places a great emphasis on the role of mental health in the life of researchers. We consider it essential to talk about challenges, stress and responsibilities imposed on researchers throughout their scientific careers – including perfectionism and the impostor syndrome. We strive to gain useful information from each other’s experience and coping strategies, especially with a focus on the challenges faced by female researchers in leading positions.
In the spirit of the above, we organise regular lectures on the topic of research careers, which also touch upon questions of mental health.
In October 2021, in the first part of the HYA webinar series on research careers, Dr. Gábor Kismihók, head of the Researcher Mental Health Observatory COST Action gave a talk focusing on work-life balance and the mental health and well-being of researchers. The second chapter of the series, held in October 2022, featured Dr. Bernadette Kun, psychologist, and Dr. Mária Hoyer, clinical psychologist and addictology specialist, who talked about the theoretical and practical background of work addiction and burnout, and the possibilities of diagnosis and treatment. The topic explored by the third part of the series held in November 2023 was the impostor syndrome, where Anett Felházi, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist spoke about the theoretical and practical aspects of the problem. At our most recent event organised in May 2024, biologists Katalin Solymosi and Zsófia Horváth discussed some aspects of the situation of women in (research) leadership and supervision.
Abstracts
Dr. Tímea Olajos, psychologist (Debrecen University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Psychology, Department of Counselling, Development and Educational Psychology): The positive and negative aspects of perfectionism
The lecture will present the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of perfectionism through a multidimensional approach of the latter. It will address its performance-catalysing, dynamic aspects, as well as the ones that make life management more difficult and threaten mental health. Finally, the issues of enhancing adaptivity and ways of coping with maladaptive functioning will also be touched upon.
Noémi Oláh, psychologist (Debrecen University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Psychology, Department of Counselling, Development and Educational Psychology): I am an impostor… or am I not? – A description of the impostor syndrome
The lecture aims to present the notion of the impostor syndrome and its charateristic traits. Besides offering an overview of the typical signs of the phenomenon, it will also highlight some readily available preventive and intervention techniques that may be useful in everyday life to mitigate impostor feelings in the individual.