Blind Spots IV — Egocentrism
Max H. Bazerman and Ann
E. Tenbrunsel, the authors of the new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Spots-Whats-Right-about/dp/0691147507" target="”_blank”">Blind
Spots:
Why
We
Fail
to
Do
What's
Right and What to Do about It</a> (Princeton University
Press), point out that egocentrism is in our nature. We naturally see
the world from our point of view. We squeeze what we see and experience
into our view of ourselves. We never get too far away from the baby's
concept that the world exists for us, even if no longer for us alone.<br>
<br>
Egocentrism (what they call the "egocentric bias") is at the heart of
unethical behavior, in the government ethics sense. When the public
interest conflicts with an offical's self-interest, that self-interest
is what leads the official to deal irresponsibly with the conflict. It
is the official's self-serving judgments that lead him to different
conclusions than others have regarding what is a fair solution to a
conflict situation.<br>
<br>
Bazerman and Tennbrunsel note that "we tend to
first determine our preference for a certain outcome on the basis of
self interest, and then justify this preference on the basis of
fairness by altering the importance of the attributes that affect what
is fair. ... This difference in the way information is processed isn't
just strategic; it happens whether we want it to or not. Our minds
actually absorb the information that is advantageous to us and ignore
information that isn't."<br>
<br>
The result is that our judgment is clouded, for example, our judgment
about whether our conduct would be viewed as unethical. The authors
have found that most people overestimate the likelihood that
they will prevail in a law suit. "The facts they rely on for their
estimates are
biased in a way that favors a win. Missing are those facts that don't
support their case."<br>
<br>
This is an area where they feel normal training does not work.
"Teaching individuals about the insidious
influence of egocentrism has been shown to be effective at teaching
them to recognize the egocentrism of others. Unfortunately, such
training on egocentrism doesn't reduce the influence of egocentrism on
our own behavior. While we recognize that others are egocentric, we
don't believe the bias affects us — an egocentric interpretation of
the egocentric bias!"<br>
<br>
The authors turn to John Rawls and his proposition that fairness should
be
assessed under a "veil of ignorance." That is, we should judge
a situation without knowing the role we ourselves play in it. For
example,
when dividing up a pie, the person who slices it should not be the one
to take the first slice. That way, the slicer has no idea which piece
he will get, and will not cut a bigger slice for himself.<br>
<br>
This is effectively an argument for independent ethics advice and
enforcement. The official who has a conflict should not be the person
who
chooses how to handle the conflict. An ethics officer should do this.
If by keeping a conflict a secret, an official does
decide to handle it herself, she may have to give back the piece of pie
she took.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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