The spotlight effect is a term used by social psychologists to refer to the tendency we have to overestimate how much other people notice about us. In other words, we tend to think there is a spotlight on us at all times, highlighting all of our mistakes or flaws, for all the world to see.

For people with social anxiety, the spotlight effect can be much worse, to the point that it has an effect on your ability to work or feel comfortable around other people.

It is not uncommon to find yourself feeling embarrassed. However, for people with social anxiety, this feeling can be overemphasized . For example, if you wake up late and go to work with disheveled hair, you may be convinced that everyone is noticing and secretly thinking badly of you. You may blush or try to hide from your coworkers, convinced that they are pitying or mocking you.

One way to work on overcoming the spotlight effect is to test your belief that other people are noticing and evaluating you. To do this, it's helpful to understand a concept identified through research termed the "illusion of transparency," which asserts that people tend to think that their internal state is visible to others when it truly is not. While it may feel as though everyone knows what you are thinking about yourself, in actuality nobody has this ability to read your mind.