The Spotlight Effect Or When Storms Are Perceived In Glasses Of Water

The Spotlight effect is the name that has been given to the tendency to oversize any defect or error, no matter how small. Who is a victim of this problem, feels as if the whole world is aware of him and judges even his slightest mistakes. It is typical of teenagers, but there are also many, many adults who feel this way.

A person suffering from the Spotlight effect will be terrified if they see a pimple on their face. Imagine that everyone will be attentive to that small imperfection and will look for the moment to criticize you from behind. Two seemingly contradictory situations come together in this type of person: they have low self-esteem and, at the same time, they feel like the center of the universe.

Advertisers know the Spotlight effect very well . That is why you will see countless commercials in which someone looks bad to everyone if they do not use a certain product. They show scenes in which someone is singled out or rejected by everyone around them when they do not carry a certain brand, or do not perform a certain action. Those who are so obsessed with the opinion of others are easy prey to manipulation.

This is the Spotlight effect

To give a more precise definition, let’s say that the Spotlight effect is the tendency to overestimate one’s characteristics or personal behavior. This occurs because the affected person feels that any error, difficulty or mistake is extremely striking for others. He has not realized that most of humanity does not care that our shirts are stained.

It could be said that the Spotlight effect is one of the faces of paranoia. The paranoid feels special, different, chosen. It is not that you have excessive narcissism, but that you feel guilty about something you are not aware of. He projects that guilt onto others and that is why it seems to him that everyone is constantly judging him harshly. In turn, he compensates for the guilt by feeling falsely superior.

These types of people want to maintain that image of theirs that they are better at something and that is why they end up becoming extremely dependent on the opinion of others, in two ways. On the one hand, they need to captivate others in some way. On the other hand, they are afraid of others, seeing them as implacable judges.

A revealing experiment

An experiment on the Spotlight effect was carried out at Cornell University . The study consisted of gathering a group of volunteers and asking them to choose a T-shirt that they considered embarrassing. They had to wear it for a day and then calculate how many people had noticed that ridiculous garment.

After completing this first part of the experiment, each one was asked the number of people who had observed them disapprovingly. Likewise, a survey was made among the observers to contrast it with the responses of the volunteers.

The result was that many of the volunteers were significantly wrong when calculating the number of people who had noticed them. The figures showed that less than half had noticed the garment.

Overcome the Spotlight effect

The advisable thing to overcome this type of difficulties that reside in our unconscious is to carry out psychological therapy. However, there are also some measures that can be taken in the short term that are effective. Some of those measures are:

• Check the validity of the assumptions. The Cornell experiment is worth replicating, to scale. It is valid to make a mistake or get ridiculous and then ask others to see if they really noticed this.
• Analyze the reasons for embarrassment. It is good to think about why this error or defect is as serious as it is perceived. What is terrible about it? What could be intolerable to others?
• Remember the virtues. It is advisable to oppose a reflection on your virtues, when you feel that others are judging you, whether it is true or not. What makes you valuable? Why does a pimple on your face or a stain on your shirt detract from your value?

It would be interesting to examine why you feel so insecure about who you are. The Spotlight effect takes root in those who have failed to accept themselves. Maybe there is something that you deeply regret, but you can’t figure out what it is. Think about it, come to your memory, with an attitude not to whip you, but to genuinely recognize you.