Man : I (Egocentrism)

Egocentrism
Concept of Egocentrism

Egocentrism is known for wanting excessive praise on an individual personality: to become the center of attention and interest both personal as the environment in which they interact.

Meaning  of Egocentrism

 

The word egocentrism comes from the Latin 
a. ego, that means I, and 
b. Center, and is defined as that personality trait that possess  in an exaggerated form and must be placed in the center of all activity or idea.

Egocentrism is  the preoccupation with one's own internal world. Egocentrics regard themselves and their own opinions or interests as being the most important or valid. 
Egocentric people are unable to fully understand or to cope with other people's opinions and the fact that reality can be different from what they are ready to accept.

In younger children

      According to Butterworth and Harris, in their book Principles of Developmental Psychology, during childhood, the child is unable to distinguish between :
      i. what is subjective (things that are strictly personal or private) and 
     ii. objective (what is public knowledge). 
    Essentially, egocentric children believe that those who have a different perception than their own are either considered false or nonexistent.

     Jean Piaget,  Swiss developmental psychologist  known for his  episemological studies (knowledge of the nature and scope of human knowledge) with children, claimed that young children are egocentric. 
    Piaget was concerned with two aspects of egocentricity in children; language and morality. He believed that egocentric children use language primarily for communication with oneself, would talk to themselves during play, and that this egocentric speech was merely the child’s thoughts.

            Egocentrism is thus the child's inability to see other people's viewpoints. The child at this stage of cognitive development assumes that their view of the world is the same as other peoples', e.g. a little girl does not see that taking another child's ball is wrong because she does not understand that taking the ball would hurt the other child’s feelings.

In adolescence

Although most of the research completed on the topic of egocentrism is primarily focused on early childhood development it has been found to occur during adolescence.  David Elkind, a professor emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University, Massachusetts  was one of the first to discover the presence of egocentrism in adolescence and late adolescence. .

David Elkind also created terms to help describe the egocentric behaviors exhibited by the adolescent population such as what he calls an imaginary audience  and personal fable. 
a. Imaginary audience refers to the idea that most adolescents believe that there is some audience that is constantly present that is overly interested in what the individual has to say or do. 
b. Personal fable refers to the idea that many teenagers believe that they are the only ones who are capable of feeling the way that they do. 
Egocentrism in adolescence is often viewed as a negative aspect of their thinking ability because adolescents become consumed with themselves and are unable to effectively function in society due to their skewed version of reality.

There are various reasons as to why adolescents experience egocentrism:

• Adolescents are often faced with new social environments (for example, starting secondary school) which require the adolescent to protect the self which may lead to egocentrism.
• Development of the adolescent’s identity may lead to the individual experiencing high levels of uniqueness which subsequently becomes egocentric – this manifests as the personal fable.
• Parental rejection may lead to the adolescents experiencing high levels of self-consciousness, which leads to egocentrism.

In adulthood

Egocentric behavior is normal in children, but not normal in adults. Egocentrism is a natural component of childhood as most children must be egocentric in order to survive. Their brains have not yet developed into having an understanding that others exist in the world with needs that equal their own. If children grow to be adults and they still exhibit egocentric behavior, then the reason could be a cognitive complication.

The prevalence of egocentrism on the individual has been found to decrease between the age of 15 and 16. However, adults are also susceptible to be egocentric or to have reactions or behaviors that can be categorized as egocentric.

      Frankenberger tested adolescents (14-18 years old) and adults (20-89) on their levels of egocentrism and self-consciousness. It was found that egocentric tendencies had extended to early adulthood and was that these tendencies were also present in the middle adult years.

    Baron and Hanna looked at 152 participants and tested to see how the presence of depression affected egocentrism. They tested adults between the ages of 18 and 25. It was found that the participants with depression showed higher levels of egocentrism. Therefore, this would suggest that a mentally healthy individual evolves out of most of his or her egocentric habits.

What Are the Causes of Egocentrism in Adolescence?

Egocentrism in adolescence can be caused by numerous factors, though it is typically an aspect of cognitive development that happens as a natural aspect of aging and changing.

1.   Self Awareness

Between the ages of 11 and 15, many young people begin to develop a far greater awareness of themselves and their identity. As children often feel more aware of themselves, others must be as well and are just as focused on them as they are. Resulting in the attention of parents or others being seen by the adolescent as the natural views of everyone else.

  During adolescence, people typically develop greater awareness of themselves and gain a more complex sense of identity and individualism. As this happens, it is quite common for egocentrism in adolescence to grow and become quite powerful. Most people at this age have developed a greater understanding of the distinction between their views and those of others; there is still a tendency for them to imagine that other people are as focused on them as they are on themselves.

This type of egocentrism creates two distinct and common aspects:

a.        The personal fable

A personal fable is a subconscious concept that develops as young people establish their own identity and assume that they are unique in every way. Someone in this age range might argue with a friend and believe that their sense of anger or hurt is greater than anyone else has ever felt, and that they are unique in terms of ideas and feelings.

b.     The imaginary audience.

The imaginary audience also frequently develops due to egocentrism in adolescence, as a person focuses more and more on themselves. As this occurs, the adolescent commonly assumes that everyone else must also be focusing on him or her. This external force becomes an imaginary audience that they believe watches their every mistake and action.

2.   Environmental

Egocentrism in adolescence can also develop due to environmental factors, especially the attention and comments of parents or other people around someone. A young person who receives a great deal of praise from a parent may extend this view to everyone else, assuming they also see his or her accomplishments as equally worthwhile. This often occurs in conjunction with factors from cognitive development, as attention or actions from others reinforce adolescents' internal views of their self-worth.

Monitoring the Egocentrism

Ego
One of the challenges most humans face in developing life is the domination of the tendency to think and feel egocentrically. Our life is deeply derived of our own immediate desires, pains, thoughts, and feelings. 
Seeking immediate gratification or long-term gratification based on an essentially selfish perspective. Not typically or fundamentally concerned with whether our perceptions or meanings are accurate, though we may think we are. We are not significantly concerned with personal growth, self-insight, or ultimate integrity, though we think we are. We are not deeply motivated to discover our own weaknesses, prejudices, or self-deception. Rather, we seek to get what we want, avoid the disapproval of others, and justify ourselves in our own mind.

The tendency for humans to think in an egocentric fashion means that, typically, we have little or no real insight into the nature of our own thinking and emotions. Many of us unconsciously believe that it is possible to acquire knowledge without much thought, to read without exerting intellectual energy, and a good writer is a talent one is born without a product of practice and hard work.

As a result, we tend to avoid responsibility for our own development. We do not seek to learn new ways of looking at things. Much of our thinking is stereotypical and simplistic, yet our egocentrism prevents us from recognizing this. We create the inner chains that enslave us.

These inner chains and beliefs can have a negative effect on to our relationships, success, growth, and happiness. 
  
Ethically
We can restrain our egocentrism only by developing explicit habits that enable us to do so. We get beyond the egocentric emotional responses not just by denying the respond we do, but, rather, by being responsible to these responses when they occur and restructuring the thinking that is feeding those emotions.

Each of us wants to see ourselves as an ethical person. Yet, through our egocentrism we often behave in ways that are blatantly unethical. Industries often engage in systematic practices that result in large amounts of pollutants in the environment.

Egocentrism in Adults

  i.     Communication Breaches

·        Egocentric struggle to communicate with others. Unable to read another's body language or emotional state, making it difficult for them to have healthy communication. Making it difficult for them to see another person's perspective on an issue and to have understanding of a person's standpoint. Egocentrics only understand their own point of view.

 ii.     Low Self-Esteem

·        An egocentric tends to be perceived as arrogant and prideful, the root of this issue is often due to low self-esteem. Seemingly self-centered behavior, the person is trying to compensate for feelings of low self-worth and insecurity. Their egocentrics behavior is often exhibited when they feel intimidated or inferior. They may perceive another person as threatening aspects of their ego and, therefore, run to an immediate defense of themselves.

iii.     Exaggeration

·        Egocentrics develop a superiority complex in order for others to accept them. Egocentrics exaggerate their own abilities and achievements in order to gain recognition. In turn, egocentrics will also mock others, making fun of their lack of abilities in order to be perceived as more talented than others.

iv.     Causes

·         

        To understand an egocentric there is the need to look at the background of this trait that comes from. It often is due to the way egocentrics were raised as a child. Often their parents were highly permissive, not giving them enough discipline as children. Egocentrics were often also spoiled or overtindulged and were given an above average amount of praise, which caused them to see themselves in an unrealistic manner.

How to Cure Egocentrism

Egocentrism personality associate a person with social difficulties such as making friends or getting along with colleagues.

Egocentrism is one feeling of one's superiority over another’s.

1.   Strength and Weakness

Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest with yourself. Realizing that you have weaknesses where others have strengths is important in your overall outlook on yourself.

2.    Actions

Take up a sport or group activity. Practice working alongside others and respecting the opinions and work of others. Be positive about the work and efforts of others.

3.   Read

Read scholarly works. Reading scholarly articles or journal articles that present opinions that are supported by research can open your mind to the opinions of others and help teach you to think critically and less centered around just your own opinion.

4.   Accommodate

Cater to others. When making plans with friends and family, allow yourself to change your schedule to accommodate their schedule and realize that their time is as valuable as yours.

5.   Volunteer

Volunteer. Giving your time free of charge to help others will help you see and cater to the needs of others.

Excerpt and extracts taken with thanks from:

Wikipedia
http://www.ehow.com/info 8732821 egocentrism-adults.html

http://westtoastmasters.com/resources/thinking tools.html

Laura Nations, eHow Contributor

Brooke Turner, eHow Contributor