Egocentrism

What is egocentrism?

In developmental and social cognition, egocentrism means difficulty separating your own perspective from someone else’s. What you see or know can get in the way of recognizing what the other person sees or knows. This is different from deliberately putting your interests first.

What research shows

The concept is associated with Piaget’s account of development, but adults can show egocentric bias too. Epley, Morewedge, and Keysar (2004) found early egocentric interpretations in both children and adults during a communication task. Adults corrected those interpretations more quickly.

Egocentrism in children: an example

A child may describe a picture as if a listener can see it, even when the listener is facing away. The issue is distinguishing the two viewpoints, not deciding to be inconsiderate. In Piaget’s stage theory, egocentrism characterizes preoperational thought, roughly ages two to seven; the later research above shows why it should not be treated as a difficulty that disappears at a fixed age.

Related concepts

• Theory of mind concerns understanding mental states, including what another person knows.
• Centration concerns focusing on one aspect of a problem while missing others.

Both relate to perspective-taking questions, but neither is simply another name for egocentrism.

Why it matters

A misunderstanding can arise from the perspective someone starts with and how well they adjust it. Researchers can study those steps through responses, errors, and eye movements. That is more precise than assuming a person who missed another viewpoint is selfish or lacks empathy.

In teaching or resolving a disagreement, ask what each person can see and what information each has. That gives a concrete starting point for explaining a misunderstanding without assuming a fixed personality problem.