The projector effect refers to the tendency to think that our environment pays us more attention than what is actually happening, the perception of being constantly observed is alone in our minds, dozens of studies in social psychology explain this phenomenon. projector effect? Basically, it’s the result of our rampant egocentrism.
We are all at the center of our own universes. This is not to say that we are proud or that, in an exercise in pride, we value ourselves more than others, however, this means that our entire existence is analyzed from our own experiences.
- We use these feelings that the world is looking at us to evaluate the environment around us.
- Including others.
- However.
- Other people not only do not know our subjective ideas and our situation.
- But are also at the center of their own universes.
- As well as having other “distractors”.
When we focus on a concern that affects us, we generally assume that it also deserves the attention of others. This is the heart of what social psychologists call the reflective effect.
Barry Manilow’s experiment was conducted at a university in the United States. Groups of ten were invited to join the psychology department, but only nine were called at the right time and taken to a room to complete some forms.
The tenth person was called fifteen minutes later and entered the office of one of the people in charge of the experiment, the researchers asked him to put a large shirt on his current outfit that many would consider “ugly” and ‘flashing’, with a photo of singer Barry Manilow.
After putting on her shirt, she was taken to the room where everyone was filling out the form, after waiting five minutes she was informed that it was normal to be late and that he should start filling out the same forms.
Five minutes later, he was informed that, in fact, the delay was affecting the results and that it was better to withdraw from the test.
Eventually, he was asked to try to estimate the number of people who had realized he was wearing Barry Manilow’s shirt. All those selected to wear the T-shirt systematically reported that about 8 people had noticed the T-shirt.
In fact, when they consulted the people who filled out the forms, none noticed the T-shirt.
Participants overestimated the number of people who noticed the shirt in this room, if you put yourself in their situation the trial would make a lot of sense, if you are forced into a room with a shirt that you find ridiculous, you will think everyone will notice.
It’s not just an effect of Barry Manilow’s T-shirts. The same studio was reproduced in a Vanilla Ice T-shirt. Researchers sarcastically published that Vanilla Ice was a “pop icon whose 15 minutes of fame had already ended when this study was conducted. “
There’s an exception to all this worth mentioning: in another study, when researchers gave participants time to get used to wearing their new pop culture attire before going to the other room, they weren’t as vulnerable to reflectors.
In other words, it was not so likely that they thought that many people would notice the shirt, this is important because it gives us an idea of why the projector effect occurs, this happens because people are very focused on their own presence. get distracted or get used to it, the effect of the projector diminishes.
So when you think everyone’s paying attention to something you’ve done, ask yourself if it’s just because you’re obsessed with it. The reality is that everyone you think is paying attention to you is worried about your own behavior.
One of the most limiting beliefs we have as human beings is the infinite ability to think that it’s all about us. In many aspects of our lives, we feel that there is a great concentration of light in every little movement we make. We feel that we are being watched and that the rest of the world is aware of our presence.
This is a big problem because it greatly limits the scope of action. When we feel “observed”, we want to please others, don’t we want to “be bad”? With no one and we spend an infinite amount of energy trying to balance the expectations of everyone around us.
In fact, there is already scientific evidence that others are not as concerned about us as we imagine.