Egocentrism and Social Competence with Peers

The relationship between egocentrism and five components of social competence (decentering ability, social participation, helping behavior, conflict resolution, and egocentric speech) in young children was examined in this study. Measures of egocentrism, intelligence and social competence were obtained for each of 100 three-year-old children paired in 50 dyads. Egocentrism was assessed by seven frequently used tests of egocentrism and intelligence was assessed using McCarthy Scales of Children's Ability. Social competence was assessed by observing each child playing with a friend (generally of the same sex) for 30 minutes in a room that was furnished as a miniature nursery school. Each child's play behaviors were videotaped from behind a one-way mirror and then were categorized by both time unit and discrete social acts. Among the results it was found that in comparison to less egocentric subjects egocentric children were no less social in their play and no less able to integrate their own play ideas with those of their peers. Although level of egocentrism showed a greater relationship to social competence than did level of intelligence, the only significant relationship was with helping behaviors; less egocentric children helped each other more, gave each other more things, and tended to use less egocentric speech. Girl dyads who did better on the egocentrism tests tended to use less egocentric speech and to have fewer conflicts than boys. It was concluded that the results raise questions about the construct validity of egocentrism. (Author/MP)