Are we programmed to be egocentric
Carla Collier
Are we programmed to be egocentric? A question that is answered in our text and is outlined in biblical principles. First, egocentrism is giving oneself more responsibility for an outcome or event than is warranted. Often judging your own highly valued contributions to a task compared to what others think or appraised your contributions to a task causes conflicts among group members. When other members place different values on your contributions to the group effort or work to be done even when true frequently cause discord among the members and reduces cohesion. These type biases occur because people are far more aware of their own efforts and contributions that those of others by seeing themselves contribute without noticing what others contribute. A study by Brosnan and De Waal conclude that primates were also proven to be guided by their instinctive sense of fairness and recognized inequality, both with receiving rewards and being denied rewards (Forsyth, 2019). A biblical reference also alludes to the sense of unfairness in the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Some men were hired in the morning to work in the vineyard for a penny, and some were hired in the last hour of work and received the same penny. And when they had received it, they grumbled against the foreman of the house, saying, these men only worked one hour, and made the same amount, and we have been in the heat all day (KJV, Matthew 20:1-16). I believe that God in his infinite wisdom understood our humanness and need for equality and fairness. That is why he instructs, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches (KJV, Jeremiah 9:23). If we work as unto the Lord and allow him to reward us, we can work together agreeably (KJV, Colossians 3:23).
References
Forsyth, D. (2019). Group dynamics. Seventh Edition. Cengage Learning.
King James Version. (1983). Zondervan Publishing House. (Original work published 1769).
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