KMAN Publication Inc. (KMANPUB) Psychology of Woman Journal 3041-8615 7 Serial Number 26 2026 04 01 Latent Class Analysis of Cognitive Load Profiles in Women Experiencing Impostor Phenomenon: Implications for Academic Persistence Latent Class Analysis of Cognitive Load Profiles in Women Experiencing Impostor Phenomenon: Implications for Academic Persistence 1 11 10.61838/kman.pwj.5177 EN Journal Article 2026 01 11 <p><strong>Objective:</strong> The objective of this study was to identify latent cognitive load profiles among female university students experiencing the Impostor Phenomenon and to evaluate the subsequent implications of these distinct profiles for their academic persistence.</p> <p><strong>Methods and Materials:</strong> Employing a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from a sample of female university students in Chile who reported experiencing the Impostor Phenomenon. Participants completed online self-report measures, including the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale, a multidimensional cognitive load inventory (assessing intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load), and an Academic Persistence Scale. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was utilized to identify unobserved cognitive load profiles, and a robust three-step approach was applied to assess significant differences in the distal outcome of academic persistence across the emergent latent classes.</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong> Correlational analyses initially revealed that the Impostor Phenomenon was positively associated with extraneous cognitive load and negatively associated with both germane cognitive load and academic persistence. Based on model fit indices, LCA supported a three-class model: (1) an Adaptive Cognitive Load profile ( , ), characterized by moderate intrinsic, the lowest extraneous, and the highest germane load; (2) an Extraneously Overloaded profile ( , ), characterized by high intrinsic, the highest extraneous, and the lowest germane load; and (3) a Compensatory Cognitive Load profile ( , ), characterized by the highest intrinsic, moderately high extraneous, and relatively high germane load. Academic persistence varied significantly among these profiles; the Adaptive class reported the highest persistence ( , ), the Compensatory class reported moderate persistence ( , ), and the Extraneously Overloaded class demonstrated the significantly lowest persistence ( , ).</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The Impostor Phenomenon functions as a critical cognitive bottleneck that generates a paralyzing extraneous cognitive load, severely hindering germane learning processes and significantly reducing long-term academic persistence among female university students.</p> https://journals.kmanpub.com/index.php/psywoman/article/download/5177/9404