Egocentrism

1002 Words3 Pages

Egocentrism can be defined as “unable to take another person’s perspective” (Floyd 140). It is commonly observed that egocentrism is prevalent among young children. They do not understand the concept of taking others into consideration. Young children believe that the world literally revolves around them. Most children will outgrow this egocentrism, but some are still egocentric as adults. We all know of an adult or two who can not see the situation through someone else’s eyes. They can’t put themselves in the other person’s shoes. Adults who are egocentric do not make effective leaders. Since they cannot perceive the way people might be affected, they would not make wise decisions concerning their public.

The clip I chose shows just how much egocentrism warps people’s perspective of things. In this clip from the Lion King, Scar is now king. He has taken over the Pride Land. Scar is standing high above his loyal hyenas and is screeching for Sarabi, Mufasa’s widow. Scar viscously asks Sarabi where her hunting party is. As she calmly explains to Scar that there is no food he responds saying that she isn’t looking hard enough. He does not understand that Sarabi has looked as hard she can. Scar’s warped perception is causing him to see only what he wishes to see about the situation. Sarabi goes on to tell him that it’s over. There is nothing left. No more food. She says their only choice is to leave Pride Rock. Scar is so full of pride that he says they’re not going anywhere. After Scar tells Sarabi they aren’t leaving, she says that he has sentenced them to death. Scar is so obsessed with being king, that he cannot see that his hyenas and lions are dying. They are starving to death. A good king would realiz...

... middle of paper ...

... a bit egocentric and as made evident in the Lion King, egocentrism is not a good thing. We all must find a way to take another person’s perspective. Being able to have another’s perception is a great gift. Though it is hard to look through someone else’s eyes, this is essential to successful relationships.

Works Cited

Dolcini, M. Margaret, Lawrence D. Cohn, Nancy E. Alder, Susan G. Millstein, Charles E. Iriwin, Jr., Susan M. Kegeles, and George C. Stone. "Adolescent Egocentrism and Feelings of Invulnerability: Are they Related?" Journal of Early Adolescence. 9.4 (1989): 409-418. Print.

Floyd, Kory. Interpersonal Communication: The Whole Story. 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 140. Print.

Lachendro, Elizabeth, and Neil D. Weinstein. "Egocentrism as a Source of Unrealistic Optimism." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 8.2 (1982): 195-200. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Perception, Kinesics, Initial Interaction and Self-Concept/Esteem in "Pretty Woman"

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beebe, Steven A., Susan J. Beebe, and Mark V. Redmond. "Understanding Self and Others." Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others. Boston: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson, 2009. 43. Print.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: The Role of Ego Boosters and Ego Busters in My Life

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...l, our self-concept is multi-dimensional. We have three ways of perceiving ourselves, the private me, the ideal me, and the public me. The private me, is the way that we believe ourselves to be. The ideal me, is how you desire yourself, who you wish you were. Lastly, there is the public me, the way that we present ourselves in public, the face that we try to show others. Ego boosters and Ego busters affect us in everyway possible and affect the way we perceive ourselves to the world we live in.

    Read More

  • Jean Piaget's Development: The Four Stages Of Logical Development

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    This stage occurs during the age of two and the age of seven. During this stage, children are now developing language and are able to symbolically represent things, places and events. According to Feldman (2017) children show these things through speech, art and physical objects. During this phase egocentrism is the only way of thinking that they have and cannot yet think of courses of action for themselves. Animism is a major factor in this phase, beliefs of children at this stage is that everything that exists has some sort of a conscious and that appearances are deceiving. This stage plays a major role in obedience and exposure to the outside

    Read More

  • Psychological and Ethical Egoism

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    Psychological egoism, a descriptive claim about human nature, states that humans by nature are motivated only by self-interest. To act in one's self-interest is to act mainly for one's own good and loving what is one's own (i.e. ego, body, family, house, belongings in general). It means to give one's own interests higher priority then others'. "It (psychological egoism) claims that we cannot do other than act from self-interest motivation, so that altruism-the theory that we can and should sometimes act in favor of others' interests-is simply invalid because it's impossible" (Pojman 85). According to psychological egoists, any act no matter how altruistic it might seem, is actually motivated by some selfish desire of the agent (i.e., desire for reward, avoidance of guilt, personal happiness).

    Read More

  • Egoism

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is no word more generally misinterpreted than the word egoism, in its modern sense. In the first place, it is supposed to

    Read More

  • Obsessive Relational Intrusion Research Paper

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cupach, W. R., & Spitzberg, B. H. (1994). The dark side of interpersonal communication. Hillsdale, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Self-Serving Bias

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mr. David Myers in “This Will Make You Smarter,” wrote an article called “Self-Serving Bias.” His ideas for writing this article were to illustrate the importance of how each of us thinks about ourselves and others. According to the author, we may not be fair or objective in some of our judgments. With respect to judging ourselves, we may be motivated to have a positive self-concept and high self-esteem. However, we may be biased in how we perceive ourselves. The author defined “Self-Serving Bias” as the tendency to judge oneself in a positive manner even when the positive evaluation is not justified.

    Read More

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Freud Analysis

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ego is referred to as a “reality principle”, because the child starts to interact with the world during this stage, and becomes more aware or his or her surroundings. This is where a child will realize that other people have desires and needs as well, and he or she understands that impulsive or selfish behavior can lead to harm. The ego meets the needs of the id, while also understanding the reality of the situation. The ego seems to become Chief Bromden’s strongest trait, after McMurphy’s influence on him. Gradually, Bromden begins to follow McMurphy’s ways and fight for what he wants, while still being careful because he understands consequences. One example would be when he first speaks out to McMurphy. It had been years since he had ever said a word, yet he decided to start speaking. It was all because of the influence McMurphy had on him, and he was finally confident enough to feel like he could be heard, however he does not let the ward know he can speak, realizing all the trouble that could get him into. The next step is when McMurphy decides to go on the fishing trip with everyone. He had always dreamed about going outside the ward, and it finally is able to happen. This is the biggest development the Chief has through the story, also being a positive one. Freud believed if a person’s ego was strongest, they were extremely healthy,

    Read More

  • Sigmund Freud: The Comparison Of The Id, Ego And Superego

    935 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is driven by the reality principle by attempting to rationalize the situation and act accordingly in order to achieve satisfaction while doing it in a socially acceptable manner. The ego is ‘like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse’ (Freud, 1923). For example, while out at a restaurant, Tom was thirsty but knew that the waiter would return to refill the water glass, so he waited until then to get a drink, even though he just really wanted to drink from Mrs. Smith’s glass. The super ego sits, omnipresent, at the top and acts as a moral compass for both the id and ego.

    Read More

  • West's Passion Towards The Disregards Of Antisocial Personality Disor

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ego-centrism – West’s need for discussions and attention to be solely focused around his accomplishment, abilities and aspirations.

    Read More

  • Child Developments By Jean Piaget And Erick Erickson

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    I was being more active and everything I did change. At this point of my life I was at the preparation stage. Preoperatinal stage, which spans at the ages of two to seven, is made by the child’s use of symbols to reresment object and events. Piaget believes “Throughout this period, preschool children became proficient at using common symbols, such as words gestures, maps, and models. But they are still limited compared to that of school” (p.g 165). As a toddler, I was also stubbornly clingy to my own way. I didn 't care what other people said or did if it didn’t go my way then I throw a tantrum. My parents told me that I loved oranges and banana. But if there wasn’t any banana or specially oranges then I would cry for hours or get myself dirty. I made it hard for anybody that try to talk to, be became I only saw my view, rather than someone else. At this point of my life I was at the preparation stage. This would refer to me as egocentrism. Egocentrism refers to young children’s difficulty in seeing the world from another’s

    Read More

  • The Characteristics of My Strong Ego

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people deem that having a strong ego is a bad thing. However, I feel that my ego is the greatest asset in my personality as an optimist. There is a combination of three characteristics that make up my optimism. They are my strong determination and tenacious will power, good strong work ethic, and my positive morals as a person. The mixture of these characteristics makes my strong ego, which in turn makes me an optimistic person.

    Read More

  • Harsh Parenting

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    One interesting outcome of harsh parenting is the effect it has on an individual’s ego. An individual’s ego is a person’s sense of self-esteem, which can easily be altered in most people by exogenous factors, such as parenting. When parents are extremely strict and harsh on their children, this would cause that child to try and suppress not only bad actions, but also bad thoughts. In college aged children with harsh parents, the attempt to suppress immoral thoughts has a rebound effect, causing that child to think even more about that negative or immoral thought, thus depleting that child’s ego (Sheikh, 2013). Furthermore, harsher parents had a more devastating effect on a child’s ego while lenient parenting seemed to have no effect on ego (Sheikh, 2013). Therefore, it makes sense that a child’s honest attempt to stay away from not only tabooed actions, but also the thoughts that lead to those very actions results in a rebound effect causing that child to feel worse about themselves. An example could be when a speaker in front of an audience says “Nobody think of an elephant”, in which case everyone in the audience is thinking of an elephant.

    Read More

  • Sport And Aggressive Behavior

    2531 Words  | 6 Pages

    10.     Adolescents and their Families, Paths of Ego Development, Stuart T. Hauser, Sally I. Powers, Gil G. Noam 1991

    Read More

  • Selfies Essay

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    The way we view ourselves as individuals can shape how we handle certain situations in our lives. “For instance, individuals tend to globally overvalue their positive traits, considering themselves more attractive than the average person (Horton, 2003), and as more attractive than others see them”. (Epley & Whitchurch, 2008)” (Re & Rule, 2016). Meaning most individuals tend to think highly of themselves and focus on their definite “positive traits” more than anything else. By focusing on these traits it is easier for one to only see the characteristics that tend to make them look better to themselves. A person’s outlook on how they perceive themselves can either ignite positive or negative feelings, and depending on the situation and experiences

    Read More

More about Egocentrism

Open Document