The Spotlight Effect in Social Judgment: An Egocentric Bias in Estimates of the Salience of One's Own Actions and Appearance

This research provides evidence that people overestimate the extent to which their actions and appearance are noted by others, a phenomenon dubbed the spotlight effect. In Studies 1 and 2, participants who were asked to don a T-shirt depicting either a flattering or potentially embarrassing image ov...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 2000-02, Vol.78 (2), p.211-222
Main Authors: Gilovich, Thomas, Medvec, Victoria Husted, Savitsky, Kenneth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Egocentrism
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender Identity
Human
Humans
Male
Observer Variation
Perceptions
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Self Concept
Self image
Self-Assessment
Set (Psychology)
Social attribution, perception and cognition
Social Behavior
Social Cognition
Social judgement
Social Perception
Social psychology
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Summary:This research provides evidence that people overestimate the extent to which their actions and appearance are noted by others, a phenomenon dubbed the spotlight effect. In Studies 1 and 2, participants who were asked to don a T-shirt depicting either a flattering or potentially embarrassing image overestimated the number of observers who would be able to recall what was pictured on the shirt. In Study 3, participants in a group discussion overestimated how prominent their positive and negative utterances were to their fellow discussants. Studies 4 and 5 provide evidence supporting an anchoring-and-adjustment interpretation of the spotlight effect. In particular, people appear to anchor on their own rich phenomenological experience and then adjust-insufficiently-to take into account the perspective of others. The discussion focuses on the manifestations and implications of the spotlight effect across a host of everyday social phenomena.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.78.2.211