1. the tendency to emphasize one’s own needs, concerns, and outcomes rather than those of others. Also called egocentricity. See also idiocentric. Compare sociocentrism.

2. in Piagetian theory, the tendency to perceive the situation from one’s own perspective, believing that others see things from the same point of view as oneself and that events will elicit the same thoughts, feelings, and behavior in others as in oneself. —egocentric adj.