EGOCENTRISM and SOCIOCENTRISM

•The first step towards gaining mastery over thinking is to be conscious of two basic
tendencies that often hinder people from thinking critically.

a. Egocentrism is the tendency of an individual to regard his or her own personal

opinion, belief or conviction as the sole basis for asserting the truth of a claim.

b. An egocentric thinker neither recognizes nor entertains the opinion of others

particularly those who contradict his or her claim.

c. He or she thinks his or her opinion alone matters and all other opinions fare less in
comparison with his or her.

•Egocentrism when applied on a wider context leads to sociocentrism. In this case, an

entire community or social group imposes its own worldview on others and compels
its adherents to follow such orientation without question as a means to advance the
group’s interests.

•Sociocentrism may occur among rival religious groups and warring social or political
factions.

•These rival groups resort to propaganda, emotional warfare, and mutual shaming
rather than engage in a healthy debate.