- Dictionary
- Word comparison: self-interest vs. selfishness
self-interest vs. selfishness
noun
- regard for one's own interest or advantage, especially with disregard for others:
He appears to be motivated solely by self-interest, greed, and an insatiable hunger for self-aggrandizement.
- personal interest or advantage:
It is particularly hard to understand why a group would vote against its own self-interest.
- Economics. the doctrine that acting to one’s own benefit or advantage can also result in a benefit for society at large:
Adam Smith believed that individuals pursuing rational self-interest would create wealth through efficient production and competition.
noun
- the quality or state of caring only for oneself or one’s own interests:
The author rants at length about the selfishness and general disregard for others that he sees at the root of modern society.