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social cognition
You overestimate how much the world focuses on you.
The spotlight effect describes your tendency to believe that your appearance and actions are more visible to others than they really are.
A 2000 study showed that people wearing conspicuous clothing drastically overestimated how many onlookers would notice them. People are usually too occupied with their own internal narrative to watch yours.
The world is not watching, but you are.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Gilovich, Medvec, and Savitsky, 2000
- What the check found
- The definition provided matches the literature. While the specific 2000 study (Gilovich et al.) is external to the provided text, the effect itself is a well-established psychological construct.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.