Spot-light Effect

One day, I went to college, wearing a T-shirt inside out. When coming back home, my mom pointed out the fact. I was so ashamed. However, I asked some friends about it next day. Although some of the friends noticed it, the others did not!

I guess that many people have a such experience. In Social Psychology, it is called as the spot-light effect. The Spot-light effect is a tendency to overestimate the extent to which others notice our behavior and appearance.


Article: The Seattle Times by Mort Walker

 The above comic strip is a good instance for the spot-light effect, I think. In this comic strip, a senior gentleman wears his military uniform in the morning despite no workday. He subsequently goes to check the mailbox, even though it is on Sunday. At the mailbox, he says "But if neighbors see me peeking in my mailbox, they'll think I'm looney." His comment and behavior imply that he cares about neighbors' eyes, and he thinks that he is always seen by neighbors. I think these behaviors and statements show the spot-light effect. What do you think about it? Is it a funny thing, isn't it?

In fact, an experiment by Thomas Gilovich and his associates shows us how much we are often greatly exaggerating such worries.

In the experiment, participants who are college students were worn an attention arousing T-shirt (one with a large picture of Barry Manilow on it) and then they were indicated to enter a room full of other student. After interacting with the students awhile, the participant was asked to estimate the number of students who had noticed the decidedly uncool T-shirt. The experimenter also asked everyone in the room if they had noticed the shirt. The participants thought that about 50% of the people in the room noticed their shirt. In reality, however, only about 20% had noticed!

So, you don't need to worry about your ashamed statement and behavior too much. We often overestimate that others are paying attention to us! Again, "Don't worry!"