Definition of egocentrism - What it is, Meaning and Concept

The psychology states that the ego is the psychic instance that allows a subject to be aware of their own identity and recognize themselves as me .The ego mediates between desires of it and the moral mandates of the superego so that the individual manages to satisfy his needs within the social parameters.

It is known as selfishness to excessive love that a person has about himself, which leads him to attend only his own interest, without being interested in the welfare of others.Selfishness is, therefore, the opposite of altruism.

The egocentrism , a term that refers to focusing on the ego (that is, the self), is the exaggerated exaltation of one's personality .The egocentric makes of his personality the center of attention.

Psychologists emphasize that self-centeredness consists in believing that opinions and self-interests are more important than the thoughts of others.What the egocentric intends is, according to its optics, the only thing that has value.

The Swiss experimental psychologist Jean Piaget ( 1896 - 1980 ) affirm that all children are self-centered since their mental abilities do not allow them understand that other people may have different criteria and beliefs than their own.Other specialists, however, minimize their studies.

Several thinkers have expressed their ideas about egocentrism and its consequences, and it is very interesting to note that it is an extreme behavior, which deprives a person of happiness as much as his counterpart does, absolute surrender to In addition, the negligence of one's own needs.In one of his famous appointments, the Swiss philosopher Henri Frederic Amiel expressed that « a laborious way of being nothing is to be everything...not to want anything, is to want everything «; This summarizes very explicitly the emptiness that egocentrism brings.

When a person centers the whole existence on himself, the most obvious impact is the disconnection with the rest of the living beings, the lack of commitment and interest towards others; however, it is overlooked that egocentrism is also a form of isolation.By focusing exclusively on one's own needs, the presence of potential friendships is eliminated.Many times egocentric individuals are defined as beings who can only love themselves.themselves; This may also mean that they consider themselves too good to be appreciated by others, since they cannot understand their superiority.

At first glance, everything seems to indicate that an egocentric person is a kind of insatiable flattery monster , which does not show any genuine interest in the world around it; but studying the opposite behavior, very curious similarities arise, which cast doubt on the veracity of these delusions of greatness.) they did not receive in their youth.

From the extreme devotion to the care of another living being, an inevitable neglect of one's own needs is born, which results in a series of frustrations, whether they exist or not on a conscious level.Why does one person give his whole life to another ? If the answer lies in believing insignificant or not so important as to put one's existence before that of one's neighbor, then this attitude is related to self-centeredness in a way that is as curious as it is alarming: in both cases it is enlarged to a person, one speaks of inferiority and superiority, and the two result in a solitary life.

In summary, it is likely that the path to happiness is near the center of these two extremes, which, depending on the perspective from which they are observed, appear to be the same.