Spotlight Effect and Deception

In Psychology, there is a concept called the Spotlight effect. "People tend to assume their features and behaviors are more salient to others than what they generally are. This is termed the Spotlight effect, the tendency to believe that other people are paying closer attention to one's appearance and behavior than they really are."

When people lie they often feel this spotlight effect. It can be hard to detect when others are experiencing the spotlight effect, but there can be leakage.  Here are some signs to look for:

• Increased direct eye contact.
• Increased nervousness.
• Babbling after a lie, to get the taste of the lie out of their mouth, and distract the listener.
• There are many more...

If you think (even if you are not sure) you have just seen the spotlight effect- all you need to say is something like, "I can see you are lying, it is like you are holding up a sign, I am lying.  You are not good at lying. One of the worst I've come across.  This is not going to end well for you, start telling me the truth- it is the only way out of this."◦

Spotlight Effect and Deception