An important concept in social and cognitive psychology that describes the tendency of people to attach more importance to notable events, people, or features when forming impressions or making decisions. In other words, what stands out or differs from the surrounding context is more easily fixed in memory and disproportionately influences judgments and evaluations compared to more common or ordinary elements. The principle of significance can be defined as a cognitive bias that causes people to focus on notable features or events when interpreting social reality, while more common or neutral information can be ignored. This principle explains why some insignificant or extraneous details play a significant role in the formation of impressions, stereotypes and prejudices. It is a natural cognitive mechanism that promotes rapid understanding, but at the same time is a major source of cognitive distortions and biases that can unfairly affect social judgments.