Question

Taliba is a teenager with a pimple on her nose. Feeling self-conscious, she is sure everyone is staring at her, when in fact no one has noticed. Out of embarrassment, she pretends she is sick and calls her mom to pick her up from school. Which of the following best describes Taliba's cognitive experience?

Answer 1

Taliba's experience is an example of the spotlight effect, a cognitive distortion where she overestimates how much her pimple is noticed by others, leading to self-consciousness and social avoidance.

Step-by-step explanation:

Taliba's cognitive experience best describes an instance of cognitive distortion, specifically the spotlight effect. The spotlight effect is a type of cognitive bias where an individual believes that their actions or appearance are more noticed by others than they actually are. In Taliba's case, she is convinced that her peers are focusing on her pimple, although in reality, it goes unnoticed by others. This egocentric phenomenon often leads to heightened self-consciousness and social anxiety. Taliba's decision to pretend sickness to leave school is a consequence of her discomfort and her misbelief that everyone is paying attention to her presumed flaw.