Spotlight effect: why we believe that everyone is constantly judging us.

An attentional bias that leads us to think that everyone lives obsessed with noticing us.

"I've made a mistake." "I have a lisp." "I have a huge pimple." "I'm wearing a sock of every color." "My nails are badly painted." All of these phrases have one thing in common: many people are very uncomfortable with the idea that others can detect an imperfection in themselves.

The truth is that most of the people we interact with will not even notice it, but we can become obsessed with that particular detail that might make us look bad, believing that everyone will see it. This is what is known as the spotlight effecta psychological phenomenon that we are going to talk about in this article.

What is the spotlight effect?

Spotlight effect is understood as the overestimation by individuals of the salience of their behavior or characteristics.. In other words, people consider that an act or element of their own is very striking and everyone is going to see it and judge it.

It usually refers to negative elements, such as having performed an action badly, having a pimple, or wearing an embarrassing T-shirt. However, it can also refer to an overestimation of what other people will think of one's own contribution or of some positive trait that others will value and admire. It is more common in people who are very introspective, or who tend to focus too much on themselves. who tend to focus a lot on themselves and their actions..

Thus, we give more importance to a specific element and we think that the environment will focus on it, provoking this thought the desire to hide it or show it (depending on whether what we believe about that element is negative or positive). But we lose sight of and forget the fact that we are not the core of other people's lives, as they are focused on their own lives.We are not the core of other people's lives, as they are focused on their own affairs.

Experiments conducted

The existence of the spotlight effect has been documented and observed in multiple experiments. One of them was at Cornell University, in which students were asked to wear students were asked to wear T-shirts that they considered embarrassing.. After that, they were asked to rate the number of people who had noticed that detail considered embarrassing. They were then asked to rate the number of people who had noticed. The cross-checking of data showed that less than half of the people the participants thought had noticed them had actually done so.

The same experiment has been carried out in multiple ways with very similar results, with aspects such as hairstyle, or even participation in debates. And not just with physical elements or actions performed: a similar effect has also been observed on the belief that others are able to guess one's own emotional state due to the salience of one's behaviors. due to the salience of our behaviors or actions.

Repercussions

The spotlight effect is somewhat frequent, but it can generate a series of important consequences in the person who suffers from it. For example, it is closely linked to self-esteem: if we believe that people are looking at an element of our own that we judge to be negative, insecurity and a decrease in our perceived self-worth will end up appearing.

We focus our attention on the element in question and tend to pay less attention to the other variables and elements present in ourselves or in the environment. Likewise, this focus can lead to a decrease in our ability to concentrate and performance on other tasks, which in turn can in other tasks, which in turn can further diminish our self-esteem.

It can also have behavioral consequences, leading to avoidance or overexposure to situations in which showing oneself with such an element could be embarrassing/proud: for example, not going out or not going to a party because we think that everyone will see and judge the pimple we had the night before.

It is even possible to relate this effect to some pathologies: body dysmorphic disorder or eating disorders can be examples where a major spotlight effect can be observed. In body dysmorphic disorder, there is a fixation with a body part that is a fixation with a part of the body that embarrasses us.In disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, weight and body shape become an obsession. The sufferer overestimates the salience of these elements and distorts his/her own self-perception (seeing him/herself as fat even when severely underweight or feeling a deep aversion and concern for a part of him/herself), although in these cases it is more related to his/her own self-perception.

A frequent effect throughout the life cycle

The spotlight effect is something that most people have experienced at one time or another, being especially frequent in adolescence.. In fact, this effect is directly related to one of the typical mental phenomena of this time of development: the imaginary audience.

That is, the thought that others are pending and attentive to our actions and actions, something that generates that we can behave in a way that favors the opinion of others about us. This is a somewhat egocentric view, thinking that the rest of the environment is going to be attentive to our actions and actions.This is a somewhat egocentric view, thinking that the rest of the environment will pay attention to us, but it is common at times when we are assuming our individuality and creating our own identity.

The imaginary audience is something that as we mature is disappearing to be replaced by the concern for the real audience that we have every day. But even in adulthood, the truth is that as a general rule we tend to overestimate the impression we make on others and the attention paid to us.

Advertising use

The spotlight effect has been known for many years, and has come to be used for advertising and commercial purposes. The concern to cover up something that we consider a defect or to draw attention to it is something that is exploited by brands to generate more sales. Obvious examples are advertisements for certain brands of clothing, cosmetics, automobiles, watches or deodorants. The supposed focus of others on what we use is used to promote a more positive image.

This is not to say that others do not pay any attention to what we do or wear, since image is important nowadays. But the truth is that this effect makes us overestimate the importance of specific details and give value to things that are not so important.

Bibliographical references

• Gilovich, T. & Husted, V. (2000). The Spotlight Effect in Social Judgment: An Egocentric Bias in Estimates of the Salience of One's Own Actions and Appearance.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; 78(2): 211-222.