Egocentrism

Egocentrism, an emotional characteristic inherent in certain people, defined by their tendency to consider reality exclusively from the perspective of its significance for their own personality. E. manifests: 1) in constantly putting forward a complex of thoughts and feelings connected with the experience of 'self', 2) in an inability to be interested in objects, people, or events that cannot affect the fate of a given person and bring them pleasure or displeasure, and 3) in the fact that in every phenomenon of the surrounding reality, only the aspect connected with possible benefit or harm to the perceiving subject is perceived. Accordingly, an egocentric person with difficulty notices others' interests and adopts the viewpoint of other people, resulting in an egotistical attitude toward them. However, E. and egoism do not always coincide. While an egoist consciously ignores others' interests, it is conceivable that an egocentric person, if the interest of other people in a given phenomenon is brought to their consciousness, may sacrifice their own interests in their favor. Basically, however, E. has common roots with egoism: greater affective coloring of the 'self' complex, lesser ability to respond to others' experiences, and a lack of sympathetic feelings. E. is a characteristic trait of many psychopathic personalities (schizoids, paranoids, hysterics, etc.), in whom its development depends to a large extent on the environmental conditions in which the given person lives; the egocentric orientation is also characteristic of most schizophrenics. In moderately expressed cases, especially in children and young people, E. can be eliminated or mitigated by pedagogical means.