Making impressions of competency plays an important role in organizational life (Rosenfeld, Giacalone, & Riordan, 1995). Although expectations for showing competency are increasing in the marketplace (Heerwagen & Kampschroer, 2005), few studies have examined how workers respond to these collective pressures. This study empirically investigated how individuals cope with a competency image at work by examining the impact of social norms of showing competency and personal characteristic traits on fear of appearing incompetent and impression management behavior.

This study was grounded in the Shadow Theory (Fitzgerald & Oliver, 2006). The Shadow, integral to organizational life, refers to censored emotions or cognition unacceptable to one's view of the self (Kolodziejski, 2004). This study focused on the fear of appearing incompetent as the Shadow and applied the Shadow Theory to the impressions of competency context in the workplace to answer two research questions: how situational and personal factors contribute to the generation of the fear of appearing incompetent (the Shadow) and what effects of social norms of showing competency in the workplace and the fear of appearing incompetent are on impression management.

Cross-sectional research included two online surveys with a total of 644 responses from professionals working mostly in the management consulting and medical fields. A new instrument for measuring social norms of showing competency was developed and validated. Based on the conceptual model the hypotheses were only partially supported. However, an alternative model provided empirical support for the Shadow Theory and offered important insights for understanding impressions of competency in the workplace. Data analysis, detailed findings, study limitations, and contribution to research and practice are discussed.