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self-interest Definition

self·-interest (-in′trist, -in′tər ist)

noun

  1. one's own interest or advantage
  2. an exaggerated regard for this, esp. when at the expense of others

self-interest Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • perceive: Even more importantly, deep conflicts of value and perceived self-interest are at stake.
  • promote: It has seen that the UK can gain from a safer world, not just from promoting a narrow national self-interest.
  • have: Like the false shepherd, the hireling has self-interest.
  • pursue: Capitalism as an ideology is the belief that if everyone pursues self-interest, the outcome will be common good.
  • involve: There's a strong amount of self-interest involved in the voting patterns of the professions.

Converse of subject

  • motivate: Debate motivated by self-interest is better than no debate at all.
  • drive: From the outset, Washington's atomic program was driven by self-interest.
  • actuated: He did so because party unity was essential if he were to remain prime minister, but he was not actuated by mere self-interest.

Adjective modifier

  • enlightened: In fact, " enlightened self-interest " is, I would argue, the goal to which modern British foreign policy must be directed.
  • naked: Naked self-interest soon focused the discussion on the question " will it be us?
  • rational: I would settle even for an appeal to rational self-interest.
  • narrow: In the narrow self-interest of the Computer Laboratory the sooner Plot C is complete the better.
  • mutual: Again, these two countries ' policies have always been based on mutual self-interest.
  • mere: He did so because party unity was essential if he were to remain prime minister, but he was not actuated by mere self-interest.

Preposition: on

  • subject: Despite our obvious self-interests on the subject, our answer is always a qualified " yes " ?

Noun used with modifier

  • material: Certainly, most economic analysis is based on the self-interest hypothesis, which assumes that all people are exclusively motivated by their material self-interest.

Preposition: of

  • company: All we do leads back to the self-interest of the company.
  • group: It may well be that defining thinking skills in a narrow way often reflects the experience and self-interest of a particular social group.
  • party: In other circumstances the self-interest of the parties would normally operate to ensure transactions take place on an arm's length basis.
  • user: Although the system has expanded far beyond the university, the self-interest of Net users perpetuates this hi-tech gift economy.
self-interest Quotes

It is not a correct deduction from the Principles of Economics that enlightened self-interest always operates in the public interest† Experience does not show that individuals when they make up a social unit are always less clear-sighted than when they act separately.

—Keynes (of Tilton),John Maynard, 1st Baron