Shine On

Since Nick got to be discussed in class, I’ll just incorporate him into my blog as well J

You are about read about my recent run in with the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect is the belief we hold, in which we think the social spotlight shines brightest on ourselves (Gilovich, Medvec, & Savitsky, 2000). Basically, we believe that other people take notice of our appearance, actions, and so on, more than they actually do.

A family friend recommended that I go listen to this Houston-based group as a possible band to play at Nick and I's reception. So I looked up when and where they were playing, and it just so happened that they were playing this past weekend at a bar in Houston. So I dragged Nick with me to go listen to this group. We walked in to place and I’m pretty sure we lowered the average age in the room by about 25 years. So I’m already feeling like we stick out like a sore thumb (keep this in mind as you keep reading).

We were having a great time, dancing, people watching (extremely interesting), and enjoying some wine (well I was at least)! And then clumsy me happened… I knocked over my wine glass, spilling my last two sips of red wine on my nice jeans. Of course, the first thing I think of is the spotlight shining on me. There wasn’t an actual spotlight, but in my mind there might as well have been. I was the person causing the commotion; everyone, for sure, was noticing me. I’m like really embarrassed at this point. Aside from believing that everyone noticed, I’m now also thinking that they must all be thinking that I’m an idiot or that I’m drunk or something along those lines. Then of course I also have the “Oh shit” response because it’s RED wine.

Nick was very nice and came to my rescue. He very calmly reminded me that no one was paying any attention to us. Everyone was still dancing or mingling; it really did appear that no one had noticed.

I later, and after much debating, let Nick convince me to dance, even though I was positive that everyone would notice the red wine stain on my jeans. Once again, Nick brought me back to reality reminding me that my jeans were dark, it was dark in the room, that not that much wine actually spilled on me, that we don’t know any of these people and will probably never see them again, and that if someone is close enough to my thigh to notice the spot then they are too close.

All in all, it was fun night and the band was great, but I definitely thought my spotlight was shining brightly that night.

Gilovich, T., Medvec, V. H., & Savitsky, K. (2000). The spotlight effect in social judgment: An egocentric bias in estimates of the salience of one’s own actions and appearance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 211-222.

This is Nick, for everyone who doesn't know him and would like to be able to put a face with a name!