[Intro]
Hey guys, my name's Alanniel Davis] for psych2go, and today I'm going to be talking about the
article, All Eyes on Me: The Spotlight Effect by Jenny Kang. Have you ever done something
really embarrassing and felt like everyone was noticing? Like, you got a stain on your shirt and
you walk through school or you walk through the mall and you just feel like everyone is looking
at the stain on your shirt? If you've felt something like this, then you are experiencing the
spotlight effect.
The spotlight effect was coined in 1999 by Kenneth Savitsky and Thomas Thomas Gilovich. They
were trying to give a name of the phenomenon of feeling like more people are noticing
something about you, or something that you did, than are probably actually noticing. As if
everyone is staring at you when in reality, not every person is staring at you.
The reason that we experience the spotlight effect at all is purely because of where our
perspective is, which is from us. So, anything that we do, anything that happens to us, has more
priority of us noticing it than anything else happening to anyone else, or anywhere else. Because
this is front and center in our view.
In short, we actually care more about the things that happen to us than anyone else, simply
because of our perspective, of what we notice first and what do we experience firsthand. But,
when you realize that this is happening to you, you have to also realize that it's happening to
everyone else. Your perspective is focused on you. Their perspective is also focused on them.
So, even though you know that you have a stain on your shirt as you're walking through the
mall, not everyone is going to actually notice. They are far more interested in the way that they
look than the way that you look, because the way that they look matters most to them.
We forget sometimes that not everyone notices the things that we notice, or not everyone pays
attention to the things that we pay attention to. So, even though we're really worried, really, we
don't have any actual reason to, because everyone else is probably thinking about something
embarrassing that happened to them. Or, they're really concerned that they don't look on-point
today, like I am. I just got off work, so this is not my hottest appearance. But, I'm making a
video anyway, because you probably didn't even actually care, did you?
You didn't realize that my hair has been in a hairnet, basically, all day. But I did, and I'm
thinking about that right now. Oh God, I should probably stop this. But look, it's okay. You can
relax. Not everyone is noticing that stain. Not everyone remembers that embarrassing thing that
you did yesterday, or in the third grade, if that's what's itching at you. You just have to own
what happened to you, because it happened to you, and then you brush it off. Because honestly,
no one else in the world cares as much as you do.
So, that should actually feel really good to you. It might sound really selfish or self-centered, but
honestly, that's a good thing. You may have spilt that ketchup, but listen. No one is going to
remember for as long as you will. So, even if someone noticed, it's okay. And honestly, you
should be able to feel really relaxed in that fact, that it doesn't actually matter.
And if that doesn't feel good, I don't know what does! Because that's very relieving to me,
honestly. I have a question, have you ever experienced the spotlight- that is a really stupid
question. You have obviously experienced the spotlight effect. I want you to tell me what
happened and how you dealt with it. I would love to hear it in the comments below. Please let me
know.
If you like this video and you want to see more like it, please press the Like button and I will be
sure to make some more for you. Please subscribe to the channel. You will see all sorts of videos
about psychology, by all sorts of people, including moi. So, if you would like to see more of
those, press the red subscribe button below. You can also follow Psych2Go on its social media,
like, Twitter and Tumblr, and all of those links will be below for you to see.
If you would like to read the original article by Jenny Kang, the link will also be below. You can
also follow me on my social media. And, I'm getting my own YouTube channel started. All the
links will be below. Listen- everything's below! Just hit the expand button on the description and
it will all be okay. I promise. If something's missing, leave a comment. We'll get it to you.
Thank you so much for watching! I will see you next time! Bye. Have a great week. Mwah! 1:49:21.400,1193:02:47.295 [intro]