egocentrism

Egocentrism is the tendency to perceive or interpret the world primarily from one’s own point of view, with difficulty distinguishing one’s own perspective, knowledge, or feelings from those of others. In psychology, it can refer to a cognitive bias that makes it hard to adopt another person’s viewpoint, though it can also describe a broader difficulty in relating to others’ mental states.

Developmental origins and patterns are central to the term. In Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, egocentrism characterizes the preoperational stage (roughly ages 2 to 7), when children often struggle to see situations from another’s perspective. The classic three-mountain task is used to illustrate this tendency. Later research has shown that egocentrism is not absolute; children can take others’ perspectives under certain conditions, and the tendency tends to lessen with experience, education, and social interaction.

In adults, egocentrism often appears as biases in judgment and attribution. The false consensus effect leads people to overestimate how much others share their beliefs or preferences. The spotlight effect involves overestimating how much others notice one’s appearance or actions. These forms of egocentric bias interact with broader social cognition and theory-of-m mind processes, and they can be modulated by context, task demands, and cultural norms.

Cultural and contextual factors influence the degree of egocentrism, with some cultures emphasizing collective perspectives more than others. The concept remains a topic of discussion and refinement, with distinctions made between cognitive egocentrism (perspective-taking limits) and affective or evaluative forms (emotional biases). See also theory of mind, egocentric bias, and perspective-taking.