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-interestedness noun
• self-interested adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of self-interest¹

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

At a stroke he has extinguished any notion of self-interest.

From BBC

Facing record high homicide rates, he released a security plan that argued that taking soldiers off the streets would be “disastrous” because cops were “controlled by organized crime and moved by self-interest and corruption.”

From Los Angeles Times

It was obviously in that farmer’s self-interest to do so, there being no direct cost to him.

From Salon

Aligned with the forces of predatory capitalism, they erode public conscience “while celebrating unrestrained self-interest, extreme individualism, deregulation, and privatization.”

From Salon

“You can't just say they voted against their own self-interest because they're telling us, for some reason, something in there motivated them to do that.”

From Salon

Related Words

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