Egocentric bias From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Egocentric bias is the inclination to overstate

changes between the present and the past to mak e ourselves look better than we actually are.[1] Besides simply claiming credit for positive outcomes, which might simply be self -serving bias, people exhibiting egocentric bias also cite themselves as overly responsible for negative outcomes of group behavior as well (however this last a ttribute would seem to be lacking in megalomania). This may be because our own actions are more "available" to us than the actions of others. See availability heuristic. Egocentric bias in estimates of consensus could be interpreted to support and/or justify one's feelings that their own behavioral choices are appropriate, norma l or correct. [2] Michael Ross and Fiore Sicoly first identified this cognitive bias.[citation nee ded] In a study conducted by Greenberg (1981),[specify] it was found that egocentric bias influences perceived fairness. Subjects felt that overpayment to themselves were more fair than overpayment to others; by contrast, they felt the underpaym ent to themselves were less fair than underpayment to others. Greenberg's studie s showed that this egocentricism was eliminated when the subjects were put in a self-aware state, which was applied in his study with a mirror being placed in f ront of the subjects. When a person is not self-aware, they perceive that someth ing can be fair to them but not necessarily fair to others and so fairness was s omething biased and in the eye of the beholder. When a person is self-aware, the re is a uniform standard of fairness and there is no bias. When made self-aware, subjects rated overpayment and underpayment to both themselves and to others as equally unfair. It is believed that these results were obtained because self-aw areness elevated subjects' concerns about perceived fairness in payment, thereby overriding egocentric tendencies.[3] Egocentric bias has influenced ethical judgements to the point where people not only believe that self-interested outcomes are preferential but are also the mor ally sound way to proceed. [edit] False-consensus effectMain article: False-consensus effect Considered to be a facet of egocentric bias, the false-consensus effect contribu tes to people believing that their thoughts, actions, and opinions are much more common than they are in reality. They think that they are more normal and typic al than others would consider them.[2] Results from a study comparing the perceptual distortion and motivational explan ations of egocentric bias in estimates of consensus showed that an egocentric bi as in estimates of consensus was more likely a result of perceptual distortion t han of motivational strategies. [2] [edit] ReferencesEpley, N., Caruso, E. M.(2004). Egocentric Ethics. Social Justi ce Research, 17, 171-185 OCLC 363254336 Ross, M. & Sicoly, F. (1979). Egocentric biases in availability and attribution. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37, 322-336. OCLC 4646238323

[edit] Footnotes1.^ Schacter, Daniel L. (2011). Psychology Ed. 2. 41 Madison Ave nue New York, NY 10010: Worth Publishers. ISBN 1429237198.

2.^ a b c Mullen, Brian (1983-10-01). "Egocentric bias in estimates of consensus ". Journal of Social Psychology 121 (1): 31-38. doi:10.1080/00224545.1983.992446 3. 3.^ Greenberg, Jerald. Overcoming Egocentric Bias in Perceived Fairness Through Self-Awareness. American Sociological Association. Social Psychology Quarterly , Vol. 46, No. 2 (Jun., 1983), pp. 152-156. OCLC 483814059