self-interest

[self-in-trist, self-, -in-ter-ist]

noun

1. 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.

2. personal interest or advantage.

   It is particularly hard to understand why a group would vote against its own self-interest.

3. 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.

self-interest

noun

1. one's personal interest or advantage

2. the act or an instance of pursuing one's own interest

Other Word Forms

• self-interested adjective
• self-interestedness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-interest¹

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

And that schism is not because rural voters misunderstand their “self-interest” or because racial dog whistles have led them astray.

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“But individual blacks are breaking away from the group, putting their self-interest ahead of groupthink, asserting their political individuality.”

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“I don’t take positions for my own self-interest,” he writes.

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History is full of ambitious international agreements that collapse under self-interest, misaligned incentives or inertia.

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The second was that he was excessively alert to the self-interest and self-promotion of others.

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Related Words

• arrogance 
• egotism 
• narcissism 
• self-confidence 
• selfishness