What Is The Spotlight Effect?

The spotlight effect is a psychological phenomenon in which a person tends to overestimate how much they are perceived or noticed by other people. A person may believe that they are the center of the world while, in fact, it might not be the case. It is likely that other people are too preoccupied with their own worries and priorities to notice you — or at least not as much as you thought they were.

According to The Decision Lab, the spotlight effect occurs because “We are prone to egocentric biases, which lead us to center our own perspective while ignoring others.  ……The spotlight effect can also occur because we are more familiar with ourselves than others are, meaning we are more aware of changes or variations.

The spotlight effect may lead one to feel their flaws or mistakes magnified even when no one is actually paying attention to them. As tough as it may sound, it might be a good practice to remind ourselves that people may not be paying attention to us or criticizing us as much as we believe.