Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
sociocentric

sociocentric

9.1
Putting a group's needs before a person's own needs
  • adjective
  • /ˌsoʊsiəˈsɛntrɪk/
translation icon : sociocéntrico
  • In sociocentric cultures, loyalty to the group often takes precedence over individual desires.
  • sociocentric self
  • sociocentric cultures

Examples

  • While the European-American view of the self is generally an individuated or egocentric self, the self as it is conceived and experienced in many tribal cultures is a sociocentric self (Scheper-Hughes and Lock 1987; Roseman 1990).

    Academic text (1994)

  • In a culture with sociocentric selves in which the self is permeable, trance dancing allows the dancers to lose the boundaries between the self and others.

    Academic text (1994)

  • For the American Right, sociocentric behavior is more well defined.

    Blog text (15)

  • Collective threat does spur the sociocentric response.

    Blog text (15)

  • This story exemplifies a kind of sociocentric healing.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Following is a story about a young man who was brought by his father to Lorin Smith for healing that illustrates a conflict that is specific to sociocentric cultures in transition.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The way Mr. Smith interprets this young man's experience is specific to a sociocentric (i.e., cosmologically holistic) culture.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Sociocentric perspectives emphasize the importance of community and collective well-being.

  • The sociocentric nature of their society means they prioritize group decisions over personal opinions.

Synonyms

collectivistic
vssociocentric
1 8.1

Putting the group before the individual

focuses on social groups but not mainly on ownership or control
nonindividualistic
vssociocentric
7.6

Putting the group's needs before each person's own wants

prioritizes the group's interests and shows strong loyalty
communalistic
vssociocentric
8.3

Showing strong loyalty to one group and causing conflict with other groups

prioritizes social groups generally without implying conflict
particularistic
vssociocentric
9.9

Cares only about the interests of one group, not about society as a whole

puts the wider society or social groups first, not just one subgroup

Antonyms

individualistic
8 6.7

Preferring to act or think independently and be different

How Sociocentric

tribalist
1 8.7
sociocentric
9.1
groupwise
  • Specialized
6.7

Surface Forms

sociocentric positive

Morphology

sociocentric = centric (transparent) = socio + centric

The combining form 'socio-' (social/society) attaches to '-centric' in the expected way to mean 'centered on social groups'; the relation is directly deducible by learners familiar with 'social'/'society' and '-centric'.

Etymology

Sociocentric is made of socio-, as in 'social' or 'society' and meaning 'group', and -centric, like the word 'center' and meaning 'focused on'. So, sociocentric means being 'centered on the group' and putting the group's needs first.