The spotlight effect is a cognitive bias that refers to the tendency for an individual to believe that they receive more attention from others than they actually do. This phenomenon is often driven by the individual's feelings of self-consciousness and insecurity. The spotlight effect can lead to a number of negative outcomes, including social anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.

Some Real Life “Spotlight Effects” Examples:

• A search engine highlights the most relevant search results in yellow to make them more visible to users.


• On social media platforms, users often tag friends in photos to get their attention.


• When a user scrolls over a product on an e-commerce website, the image of the product usually becomes highlighted to encourage them to click on it.