A Phenomenological study of psychological impact

of spotlight anxiety in young adults.

A Report

Submitted to
Central Department of Psychology

Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu.

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for M.A Psychology second semester practical
examination on Qualitative Research

Submitted by

Ashim Sharma

Roll no: 7

Date: 8th September 2022

Table of Contents
Chapter I: Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Statement of problems........................................................................................................... 1

1.3 Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 2

1.4 Rationale of Study ................................................................................................................. 2

Chapter II Literature Review .......................................................................................................... 2

Chapter III Methodology ................................................................................................................ 2

3.1 Research Design .................................................................................................................... 2

3.3 Sampling................................................................................................................................ 3

3.4 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria ........................................................................................... 3

3.5 Data Collection Tools............................................................................................................ 3

3.6 Data Collection Technique .................................................................................................... 3

3.7 Techniques for Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 3

Chapter IV : Analysis of the results ................................................................................................ 4

4.1 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 4

Chapter V : Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 6

References ....................................................................................................................................... 7
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Chapter I: Introduction

1.1 Background

“Spotlight effect” is the phenomenon in social psychology where people tend to overestimate
how much others notice aspects of one's appearance or behavior. This causes a lot of social
anxiety for people. Spotlight anxiety, has been seen as a subtype of social anxiety where the
individual who has a certain proclivity to social anxiety, also develops spotlight effect. Social
anxiety is defined by APA as, “fear of social situations in which embarrassment may occur (e.g.,
making conversation, meeting strangers, dating) or there is a risk of being negatively evaluated
by others (e.g., seen as stupid, weak, or anxious). Social anxiety involves apprehensiveness about
one’s social status, role, and behavior. When the anxiety causes an individual significant distress
or impairment in functioning, a diagnosis of social phobia may be warranted.”

Spotlight anxiety contrasted with social anxiety is a fear that occurs when an individual has to
speak, perform in front of an audience or present a topic or has attention of a group of people and
not in all social situations. Spotlight anxiety is specific to such social situations.

It can be caused by the factors such as fear of attention, Social Anxiety Disorder, Scopophobia
(an extreme and excessive fear of being stared at or looked at), negative experiences in such
situations, etc.

1.2 Statement of problem

Spotlight anxiety, although not clearly defined, certainly does exist and is prevalent in a lot of
individuals. In severe cases, it itself can be a cause for social anxiety and not just the opposite.
Individuals with spotlight anxiety severely fear even the slightest attention. Spotlight anxiety can
be debilitating and may lead to the individual to limit activities and can cause things such as
affect work and school, interfere with their relationships, miss opportunities and can also lead to
social isolation.
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1.3 Objectives

The objective of this research is to understand the lived experience of the psychological impact
of spotlight anxiety in young adults.

1.4 Rationale of Study

The exploration into subjective experience of living with acne will help in providing a deeper
meaning regarding the psychological impact in the young adults due to spotlight anxiety and
whether the individuals are aware of such impacts. Further the new insights if any may help to
open new research into new techniques for addressing such issues in the young adults.

Chapter II: Literature Review

There are various quantitative researches on social anxiety but not much on spotlight anxiety.
The review paper, Social Anxiety and Social Anxiety Disorder (A. S. Morrison & R. G.
Heimberg, 2013) studies social anxiety and gives an overview of the anxiety as well as studies
the various information processing biases, self focused attention, emotion and emotion
regulation, etc. The chapter on self focused attention sheds light on the fringes of spotlight
anxiety. The paper The spotlight effect and the illusion of transparency in social anxiety (M. A.
Brown, L. Stopa, 2007) concludes saying results suggest that the spotlight effect may be specific
to social-evaluative concerns.

Chapter III: Methodology

3.1 Research Design

The topic choosen for this research is relatively unexplored . Therefore an exploratory research
design is choosen for this research

3.2 Area of the Study

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Any individual from Nepal that suffered from spotlight anxiety currently or previously has been
considered as the area of the study.

3.3 Sampling

A purposive sampling has been used for the purpose of this research. The criterial for the
sampling is Nepali individuals that suffered from spotlight anxiety regardless of their age group.

3.4 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria : Any Nepali Individual who suffered from spotlight anxiety.

Exclusion Criteria : Any individual other than nepali who hasn’t suffered from spotlight anxiety.

3.5 Data Collection Tools

Semi structured interviews with guided open ended questionnaire is used for the collection of the
data.

3.6 Data Collection Technique

Brief information is given about the research and its rationale. Then consent is obtained from the
participant to record the interview and begin accordingly. A semi structured interview is then
conducted for exploration into the topic and questions are modified as per the need during the
interview.

3.7 Techniques for Data Analysis

The recorded interview is transcribed and major themes are extracted from the data obtained.
Then the themes are categorized and complied for making the final conclusions.
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Chapter IV : Analysis of the results

4.1 Findings

Upon analyzing the transcribed data obtained from the respondents, 5 central themes was
generated. Details are as below:

a. Theme 1: Lack of confidence

S.n Cluster of meaning Central Theme

1 Feeling of having low confidence
Lack of confidence
2 Feeling inferior

b. Theme 2: Constant Negative Emotions

S.n Cluster of meaning Central Theme

1 Fear
2 Symptom of Fear/Anxiety Constant negative emotions
3 Feeling Uncomfortable

c. Theme 3: Cognitive Distortion

S.n Cluster of meaning Central Theme

1 Faulty assumptions
2 Automatic Negative Thought
Cognitive Distortion
3 Cognitive Distortion
4 Hyper Alertness
d. Theme 4: Long term impact

S.n Cluster of meaning Central Theme

1 Long Term Impact
Long Term Impact

The four central themes that were indentifed were, Lack of confidence, Constant negative
emotions, Cognitive distortion, Long term impact.

Lack of confidence was reflected from the respondents experience of constantly avoiding people
or event, inability to connect and in overall a general feeling of low confidence. They were
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constantly finding themselves in the above mentioned situation because they felt uncomfortable
with the idea of how they look and the thought of judgement from the people regarding their
performance or act.

Constant negative emotion was reflected from the respondents experience of constant fear,
feeling of uncomfortableness and other various negative emotions. The most common feel
shared was of symptoms of anxiety. Further even the idea of interacting in social setting would
make them uncomfortable and nervous. And these are basic day to day situation such as going to
relatives, meeting friends, to talk in front of people, around new situations. So interpreting how
frequent these situations arise in every day setting, we can get an idea of how constantly these
negative emotions are felt which is a lot. All these are felt throughout the day and just mentally
and emotionally drains a person.

Cognitive distortion refers to the the habitual ways of thinking that are often inaccurate and
negatively biased. These type of thinking are the primary clues of deteorating mental health of a
person. The theme is reflected from the experience of the respondent’s automatic negative
thoughts, irrational thinking and faulty assumption. Cognitive distortion also related to the
respondent’s inability to cognitively perceive or function including things such as forgetting,
mixing up information. Frequent automatic negative thoughts are also noted when they prepare
themselves for an event. An example can be from a respondent who was prepare to go for a
leadership role or a presentaion. The thought that came to her mind before the presentation was
“"manche haru le malai naramro bhancha, eauta sentence lai ni catch garera embarrass banauna
khojcha. ". This ultimately causes a problem in their confidence, in their inability to see their
positive aspect. They also have shared their experience of various faulty assumptions inclined
more towards negative side, they had the habit of making. Example can be the believing that
they’re not making sense, and people are not understanding them. Also their assumptions that if
they are the center of attention, people will definitely judge them.

Final theme that has been generated is Long term impact. It refers to the long term recurring
impact of the condition. Participants shared their experience of recurring anxiety in similar
situations and its subtle debilitating effects all throughout their lives.
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Chapter V : Discussion and Conclusion

From the experience share by the respondents it is clear that acne does have various
psychological impact. Even though these impacts arent discussed that much, but its affecting the
day to day life of the people and even affecting them long after they have recovered from the
condition. These psychological impacts doesn’t necessilary suggests that they might have a
psychological disorder but we cant also entirely ignore its negative impact. It affects their self
confidence regarding carrying out all the necessary activities where they have to interact. We
certainly can imagine the difference in carrying out any activity with confidence and without.
Further being constantly triggered by the regular day to day activities into feeling the wide range
of negative emotion is equally tiring and harming even our physical units of the body. The
constant looking out for care bring out the hopeless and frustration is even bigger challenges that
the condition of acne brings out. Therefore this term papers suggests for more research into the
psychological impacts that acne brings out along with more awareness into this matter in general
population
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References

Brown M. A., Stopa L., (2007),The spotlight effect and the illusion of transparency in social
anxiety, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Volume 21, Issue 6, Pages 804-819, ISSN 0887-
6185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2006.11.006..
Morrison A. S. & Heimberg R. G., (2013), Social Anxiety and Social Anxiety Disorder
10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185631