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Psychological Phenomena

Adolescent Egocentrism

Developmental Phenomena

Adolescent egocentrism is a term the child psychologist David Elkind used to describe adolescents' inability to distinguish between their own perception of what others think about them and what people actually think in reality. Elkind's account builds on Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development and describes how teenagers come to focus intensely on their own appearance and actions while mistakenly assuming the people around them share the same preoccupation; Elkind proposed that this pattern gives rise to two related mental constructs, the imaginary audience and the personal fable, both already documented on this atlas.

Facts
Partially Attested
First Described Year
1967 1
Source dates Elkind's 1967 work as the claim that egocentrism emerges in early adolescence; not stated explicitly as the first description.
Classification
Type of Phenomenon
Cognitive Phenomenon 1
Type of Phenomenon
Developmental Phenomenon 1
Core Claim
Adolescents' inability to distinguish between their perception of what others think about them and what people actually think 1
Connections

In Branch

Sources
1. Adolescent egocentrism - Wikipedia
  • Intro, sentence 1
    adolescents' inability to distinguish between their perception of what others think about them and what people actually think in reality
  • Discussions, Not being age-related
    In his 1967 work, Elkind claimed that adolescent egocentrism emerges during early adolescence
  • lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
    Elkind's theory on adolescent egocentrism is drawn from Piaget's theory on cognitive developmental stages, which argues that formal operations enable adolescents to construct imaginary situations and abstract thinking.
  • lead section, phenomenon-kind classification, additional value cognitive
    This leads to adolescents' belief that society is just as attentive to their actions and semblance as they are of themselves.
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