It always seems that the people you run into most around campus are the people you are secretly hoping you will never see ever again, for whatever reason. And of course, when we do run into these people, we assume that they notice every tiny detail about our appearance and our behavior at that very moment. This belief, known as the spotlight effect, occurs because we tend to think that people notice and evaluate our appearances and behaviors more than they actually do (Gilovich and Savitsky, 1999).
A good example of the spotlight effect occurred just a few days ago. My friend, Lola, and I were up late studying, and decided to take a break by going to the computer lab to do some printing. On our walk to the lab, Lola and I began talking about McGee, a guy on campus whom she never wanted to see or speak to ever again. Although our campus is small, I wanted to reassure Lola, so I told her that I was positive she would not run into him. After all, we were going to the computer lab at 2 a.m., prime computer lab procrastination time for SU students. I figured the place would be packed, and that McGee would not be there.
So Lola and I walked into the computer lab, and much to our surprise, there were only two people in there. Who were those two? McGee and a friend. Lola promptly began freaking out, but in a very nonchalant way, if freaking out nonchalantly is even possible. She sat down at the first computer she saw, and just covered her face, while waiting for me to finish my print job.
When I finished printing, we beelined out of there, and Lola's freak out went from nonchalant to irrational. Her rant went something like this:
'"Oh my gosh, Julia, McGee was in there! Why did he have to be there?! OH MY GOSH, I bet he noticed that my hair is looking especially bunk today. And do you think he could tell that I'm wearing a black bra? Oh gosh, now he thinks I'm a slut because I'm wearing a black bra under a pink shirt. And he definitely saw that I'm not wearing any make-up. And my allergies! My eyes are all red, and I have a huge zit, and he saw all of this!"'
I listened to Lola talk a mile a minute the whole way back from the computer lab, and at first, I legitimately believed her. I thought that McGee had probably noticed everything too, but luckily, I remembered that just a few hours earlier, I had read Gilovich and Savitsky's (1999) article about the spotlight effect. Of course, trying to calm Lola down by spewing social psychology jargon did not work so well at the time, but I think she is catching on. Just today, she totally called me out on being caught in the whirlwind of someone's self-fulfilling prophecy, but that is another story.
Anyway, the chances that McGee took note of Lola's hair, bra, and lack of make-up are slim. McGee was in the computer lab past midnight; therefore, most signs should lead us to believe that he was working on a paper or project and could have cared less about Lola's zit. But because of the spotlight effect, Lola overestimated what McGee probably noticed. It seems logical that he noticed that she entered the computer lab, stayed for a few minutes, and left, but at the root of it, we are self-absorbed creatures. If we think about the spotlight effect from McGee's point of view, he may have thought that Lola noticed the bags under his eyes, or the fact that he was wearing dirty clothing.
Basically, I think the spotlight shines most brightly on me, and you think the spotlight shines most brightly on you. Gilovich and Savitsky (1999) offer an explanation for this: how we believe others see us is influenced by how we see ourselves. Lola was dissatisfied with her physical appearance that night, and because of the spotlight effect, she believed that McGee would see exactly what she saw, a zitty black-bra wearing slut with bunk hair. Lola could not get beyond her own perspective, so when she imagined what McGee saw, she began to believe that he saw the same image she saw of herself.
Good news though; Lola ran into McGee today and they exchanged hello's, so maybe McGee did not think that Lola looked that bad after all.
Gilovich, T., & Savitsky, K. (1999). The spotlight effect and the illusion of transparency: Egocentric assessments of how we are seen by others. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8(6), 165-168.
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3 comments:
Yeah, that spotlight effect is a tricky one. One time when I was a kid I raised my hand when my mother was talking to a group of people and she finally turned to me and went, "What?" "Can I go to the restroom?" I asked. She gave me this weird stare and said, "Yes, go!"
Halfway to the restroom I realized I wasn't in school or in a classroom, and I had just asked if I could do something as basic and inconsequential as go to the john. I came back to the group of adults thinking they all thought I was stupid or at least silly little kid, but I'm sure they forgot about the incident before I realized what had actually happened.
Dear Julia,
You and your spotlight effect. :-) It reminds me of the time we thought it would be a good idea to go to Blockbuster in our pajamas, and then when we got there half of the people on the planet that we knew were there. I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh. I look like an idiot in my giant red fuzzy bathrobe. I look so much more ridiculous than Julia does right now!" But now that I think about it, you were probably thinking just the same thing about what you were wearing. Good times.
Good old Willy Shakespeare may have been right that "all the world's a stage," but the spotlight certainly can't be aimed at all of us all the time.
Love,
Whit
I fell prey to the spotlight effect just yesterday! After leaving my morning class, I received a phone call from my mother informing me that my 14 year-old dog had died and that I needed to come home. Immediately I burst into tears as my best friend tried to comfort me. Because we were in-between classes, many people were walking around outside. As the tears streamed down my face and my body broke out in hives (I have wonderful stress responses), I was convinced the entire world was staring at the awkward girl having a breakdown on the steps of the FAC. A few people walked by and I couldn't believe that they didn't even stop to check on me. When I went to my house in Georgetown, I tried to start packing. After getting my phone calls, my roommates almost instantly rushed through our front door, coming as soon as they could to comfort me.
After I had once again started breathing normally, I began rambling about how embarassing the morning's scene had been. "My makeup was running everywhere, I was sweating like crazy, and I had so many hives - I'm sure I looked like a soggy, dirty tomato! My roommates assured me that I did not and that they had not even noticed the things I was fixating on until I had pointed them out. When I expressed my frustration that more people had not stopped to check on me, they gently reminded me of how ridiculous I was being. The odds of anyone noticing were slim to none, especially when people were changing classes and focusing on their own personal issues and schedules. Although there were many things that were difficult to deal with yesterday, with the help of close friends and a reminder of the spotlight effect, I was able to move past some of less-important assumptions.
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