The 3 differences between narcissism and egocentrism

These concepts tell us about a way of thinking in which the ego has a special importance.

It is easy to confuse the concepts of narcissism and egocentrism.. They are two ideas that are widely used in the world of psychology and are related to each other, since they have in common a withdrawal into one's own identity, thoughts and motivations.

However, they are used to refer to different things.

Differences between narcissists and egocentrics

In the following we will see how egocentrism and narcissism differ and how these concepts can be used to describe a personality type.

What is narcissism?

Narcissism is a psychological trait that in contemporary psychology is used to know to what extent a person is more or less close to exhibiting a personality disorder known as Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This means that, although someone can be said to exhibit a high level of narcissism in their behavior and way of thinking, the intensity of this trait does not have the same intensity as that of a narcissistic personality disorder, the intensity of this trait does not necessarily have to be pathological..

And what does Narcissistic Personality Disorder consist of? Fundamentally, in a constant need to notice the admiration of others and in the lack of empathy. This causes narcissistic people to have a feeling of grandiosity about their own abilities and positive qualities (something that can also be described as megalomania) and, in short, delusions of grandeur.

The narcissist takes it for granted that he/she deserves special treatment, gets frustrated when he/she notices that he/she does not receive the attention he/she deserves, and undervalues the achievements of others, interpreting them as a matter of luck. This is why narcissistic people often try to make others feel bad about themselves, since their delusions of grandeur will be confirmed by the way in which others exhibit low self-esteem.

Furthermore, narcissism appears basically through learning, especially that which has occurred duringespecially that which has taken place during the first years of life. This implies that in many cases it can be significantly corrected.

What is egocentrism?

Egocentrism, unlike narcissism, is not part of a diagnostic category. It is, rather, a concept used to refer to a pattern in the way of thinking..

And what characterizes egocentric thinking? Basically, the omission of points of view other than one's own.

While narcissists, like the majority of the human population, can easily know another person's point of view (although the narcissist attaches little importance to it beyond the usefulness to oneself that this information has), where there is egocentrism thoughts evoking what the other person knows, believes or intends to do appear less frequently or in a more superficial and imperfect form.

In other words, egocentrism is more defined by ignorance of what is going on in the minds of others than by disregard for the judgment of others. than by disregard for the judgment of others.

Examples of egocentrism

If we want to see more clearly what distinguishes narcissism and egocentrism, we can take as an example the way children think.

The youngest children do not necessarily have to be narcissistic, but their thinking is egocentric because they find it difficult to put themselves in the place of others and imagine what they know or think.

For example, an ability known as Theory of Mind, which consists of being able to make conjectures about the kind of thoughts and conjecture about the kind of thoughts and information available to another person, does not appear to be well formed until children are very young.The ability to make guesses about the kind of thoughts and information available to another person, does not appear to be well formed until about four years of age.

However, until that time a child does not necessarily show narcissism, i.e., he or she does not need to receive praise or notice how others are placed on a lower hierarchical level. What will happen, among other things, is that he/she will assume that everyone knows the information that one knows oneself.. If a 3-year-old child sees how someone arrives and hides a toy in a trunk, when another person arrives who was not present when the above occurred, he will assume that the newcomer also knows that the toy is hidden in the trunk.

The egocentric brain

Thus, egocentrism has to do not only with learned behaviors, but also with the degree of brain development. The youngest people are egocentric because the neurons in their brain are not yet highly interconnected with each other via white matter areas, so through white matter areas, so it is difficult for them to think through relatively abstract ideas and, consequently, they cannot perform "simulations" about what is going on in someone else's brain.

Narcissistic people, on the other hand, have a mature brain with well-interconnected neurons, and their characteristic feature is the way they prioritize their ideas and motivations.

How to distinguish between narcissism and egocentrism

So, in summary, the differences between narcissism and egocentrism are:

1. Egocentrism is present in practically all children.

From our first months of life we are egocentric, for the simple fact that we have not developed the capacity to think in terms of "I" and "others". With age this capacity improves, but it reaches its maximum development, since it evolves together with the ability to think in abstract terms.

2. egocentrism has a more or less clear Biological basis

Egocentrism is due to the somewhat reduced functionality of certain neuronal connections, which can be identified indirectly by observing the white matter that covers several areas of the brain. This does not mean that it is a developmental disorder or a disease; it may be due to learned behaviors fostered by an environment that does not value empathy or collaboration.

3. Narcissism has an instrumental component

Egocentric people do not necessarily think that others are worth less or that they have some kind of power over them, they simply spend little time thinking about them. That is why boys and girls show egocentrism despite not having bad faith.

In narcissism, time is spent thinking about others, but with manipulative and instrumental eagerness. Others are seen as a means to build a self-image defined by grandiosity.