sociofugal

English

Etymology

From socio- (prefix meaning ‘society’) +‎ -fugal (suffix meaning ‘travelling out from’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in 1957: see the quotation.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌsəʊ.si.ə(ʊ)ˈfjuː.ɡl̩/, /-ʃi-/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌsoʊ.si.o(ʊ)ˈfju.ɡ(ə)l/, /-ʃi-/
Rhymes: -uːɡəl
Hyphenation: soc‧i‧o‧fug‧al

Adjective

sociofugal (comparative more sociofugal, superlative most sociofugal)

(psychology, sociology) Of a place, etc.: involving the arrangement of a group of people so that each person can maintain some privacy from the others. [from 1957]
Antonym: sociopetal
- 1957 April, Humphry Osmond, “Function as the Basis of Psychiatric Ward Design”, in Daniel Blain, editor, Mental Hospitals, volume 8, number 4, Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Mental Hospital Service, →ISSN, →OCLC, architectural supplement, page 28, columns 1–2:
  By sociofugality I mean a design which prevents or discourages the formation of stable human relationships. […] Sociofugal buildings do not encourage interpersonal relationships and when group relationships occur they are of the shoulder-to-shoulder type found in a crowd or, when modified by discipline, in the regimented group. […] [S]ome of the luxury buildings found in private psychiatric hospitals seem to be derived not from psychiatric principles but from an attempt to ape general hospitals and hotels—both highly sociofugal buildings.

Derived terms

Translations

of a place, etc.: involving the arrangement of a group of people so that each person can maintain some privacy from the others