Egocentrism Among Generation Z: The Influence on Sustainable Behavior

Generation Z is among the youngest cohorts defined by specialists. Thus, the research questions for this study are ‘How does egocentrism influence the behavior of Generation Z?’, respectively ‘What other factors dictate the sustainable behavior of this generation?’. As the methodology, we built an egocentrism index (aggregate variable) to measure individuals' egocentrism. Also, we looked at whether the expressed/materialized behavior is influenced by individuals' concern for their person and their role in society. Thus, we conducted a quantitative research among the young people who make up Generation Z, the sampling method being convenience sampling. The results obtained from this research showed us that the value of the egocentrism index is lower for the young people of Generation Z compared to other cohorts (for example, Generation X). At the same time, within this scientific approach, we could observe that care for the environment, the desire for involvement and to change unpleasant aspects in the community are not influenced, in a significant way, by the value of the egocentrism index. For our work, the research novelty is represented by the analysis of the influence that the egocentrism index has on sustainable behavior.