Spotlight Effect: Why It Feels Like Everyone Is Looking At You

The spotlight effect is when we feel that others are looking at us more than what is actually the case. Numerous social psychological studies have supported this phenomenon. What is the explanation for the spotlight effect? Yes, it’s basically the result of our enormous self-centeredness.

The Spotlight effect and the Barry Manilow experiment

The Barry Manilow experiment was conducted at a university in the United States. The researchers asked ten people to visit the psychology faculty. They invited nine of them to the correct time and asked them to fill out some forms.

However, they invited the last participant 15 minutes later than the rest. This participant entered one of the researchers’ offices. He was asked to wear a large t-shirt over his own clothes, a t-shirt that many would think was “ugly” and “flashy” with a picture of Barry Manilow on it.

After wearing the t-shirt, the participant was led into the room where the other nine participants filled out forms. After standing and waiting for ten minutes, one of the researchers told him that it was ok to be late for it and that he should fill out the same forms.

Five minutes later he was told that the late arrival would  affect the result and that it was better for him not to attend.

Finally, the participant was asked to guess how many of the others had discovered that he was wearing a Barry Manilow t-shirt. The person who had been asked to put on the t-shirt consistently said throughout the experiment that it must have been about eight people who had discovered it.

Then, the remaining nine participants who had filled out forms were asked. Surprisingly, none of them had noticed the t-shirt.

Spotlight effect: Overestimating presence

Participants overestimated the number of people in the room who had noticed the t-shirt. If you put yourself in their situation, their response makes sense. If you were forced to walk into a room wearing a t-shirt that you thought was mentally retarded, you would think that everyone would have noticed it.

This is not just an effect of a Barry Manilow t-shirt. The same test was performed with a Vanilla Ice t-shirt. The researchers sarcastically pointed out in their report that Vanilla Ice was “a pop icon whose 15 minutes in the spotlight were already over when the experiment was performed”.

To turn off the spotlight effect

However, there is one exception that is worth mentioning. In another study, where researchers gave the participant the opportunity to get used to his new pop culture t-shirt before entering the other room, they were not as vulnerable to the spotlight effect.

In other words, they were not so likely to think that many people would notice the t-shirt. This is important because it gives us an idea of ​​why the spotlight effect is happening. The spotlight effect actually happens because people are focused on their own presence. If you get distracted or get used to it, the spotlight effect diminishes. 

Therefore, if you think that everyone is looking at something you have just done, ask yourself if it is simply because you are obsessed with your own actions. The truth is that all the people you think are looking at you actually care about their own behavior. They think that others are paying too much attention to them.

Is it all about you?

One of the most limiting beliefs that man has is that everything is about them. In many areas of life, we feel like we have a giant spotlight that shines on everything we do. We feel that we are being watched and that everyone is looking at us.

If you feel monitored, you will spend your entire life wanting to please others. You will not want to look bad and tend to spend a lot of time and energy trying to meet the expectations that others have of you. But remember that there is scientific evidence that others are not as preoccupied with you as you think they are!