Egocentric Perceptions in Cooperative Groups: A Conceptualization and Research Review.

摘要

People structure their retrospective analyses of events so that they receive personal credit for having produced desirable outcomes and avoid personal blame for having produced undesirable, negative outcomes -- a process termed egocentrism. The following are among the research findings: (1) It was demonstrated that egocentric perceptions occur in group situations, producing both self-enhancement and self-protection, often at the expense of others in the group. (2) Specific manifestations of ego were isolated. Egocentrism affects group members' feelings of personal responsibility for a group's performance relative responsibility for the group's performance, perceptions of dominance and leadership patterns, evaluations of the accuracy of group performance feedback, and perceptions of the amount of interpersonal agreement that existed amongst group members, and (3) The effects of situational and personality variables on egocentrism were tested. Egocentrism was minimized primarily when: group cohesiveness was high; members were self-conscious about their group roles; and group members received explicitly unfavorable evaluations from their peers. Egocentrism also was differentially affected by: personality variables such as self-esteem and Machiavellianism, sex, patterns of group dissent, leadership role in the group, and whether or not personal accounts of the group's activities would be seen by other group members.