Abstract
People drastically overestimate how often others attend to them or notice their unusual features, a phenomenon termed the spotlight effect. Despite the prevalence of this egocentric bias, little is known about how to reduce the tendency to see oneself as the object of others’ attention. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a basic property of mental imagery—the visual perspective from which an event is viewed—may alleviate a future-oriented variant of the spotlight effect. The results of three experiments supported this prediction. Experiment 1 revealed a reduction in egocentric spotlighting when participants imagined an event in the far compared with near future. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated reduced spotlighting and feelings of embarrassment when participants viewed an impending event from a third-person (vs. first-person) vantage point. Simple changes in one’s visual perspective may be sufficient to diminish the illusion of personal salience.
DOI
10.1177/0146167216644961
Publication Date
2016-07-01
Publication Title
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume
42
Issue
7
Publisher
SAGE Publications
ISSN
1552-7433
Embargo Period
2024-11-22
First Page
855
Last Page
863
Recommended Citation
Macrae, C., Mitchell, J., McNamara, D., Golubickis, M., & et al. (2016) 'Noticing Future Me', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42(7), pp. 855-863. SAGE Publications: Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167216644961
