 Egocentric biases in moral judgments of character and behaviorKonrad Bocian Chapter 9 in Research Handbook on Social Judgment, 2026, pp 140-158 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: Egocentrism plays a central role in moral cognition, as individuals interpret the social world from a default, self-centered perspective. This often leads people to view their moral evaluations as objective and justified, even when those judgments are influenced by self-interest or interpersonal preferences. In this chapter, I review research that identifies two key egocentric tendencies in moral judgment, which are evident in both children and adults. First, when interests are involved, individuals are more likely to evaluate unethical or unjust actions as morally acceptable. Second, people tend to perceive those they like as more moral than those they dislike, indicating that liking can bias moral evaluation. These patterns persist even when individuals attempt to reason impartially. Rather than being irrational errors, such tendencies may serve adaptive social functions by helping individuals maintain relationships, form alliances, and make strategic moral decisions. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for explaining everyday moral reasoning and behavior. Keywords: Egocentrism; Moral Cognition; Self-Interest Bias; Liking Bias; Moral Decision-Making (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23316_9 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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