Recently, I started my 4th semester at the University where I teach. On the first day of class, I introduced myself, but then I blanked on how many semesters I had taught there.

Maybe my brain fog was prompted by anxiety. Or maybe I was just distracted, thinking about whether I left the fridge door open at home. Whatever the cause, the incident was a bitter reminder of how people like my clients and I can struggle with the fear of looking dumb.

In some cases, fear of looking dumb is a symptom of social anxiety disorder (APA, 2022), and it can be associated with perfectionism and fear of failure. It can show up in issues such as imposter syndrome, or feeling like a fraud and worrying about not rising to the expectations of a high-achieving position. It can also be related to stereotype threat, when someone’s membership in a marginalized group leads them to worry that they will act in a way that confirms negative stereotypes.

Fear of looking dumb may also emerge from a psychological need to look (and act) smart, which is why any blunder, no matter how trivial, can feel like a threat to self-worth.

Society’s obsession with IQ as a marker of success can reinforce the need to look smart from a young age. When I was a child, my parents were thrilled because I played computer games while their friends were visiting. They thought this made me look smart. While their praise was genuine, the idea of screen time being a marker of intelligence was spotty, and research confirms that people are superficial in the way they gauge others’ intelligence. For example, one study found that people were judged to be more intelligent when they used a middle initial in their name.

On the other hand, emotional intelligence (EI), or the ability to manage one’s own emotions, understand others’ mental state, and adapt to change, has a strong effect on markers of success such as academic achievement. This is in part because EI increases........

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