allocentricadj.
/ˌalə(ʊ)ˈsɛntrɪk/, U.S. /ˌæloʊˈsɛntrɪk/ 1. Medicine. Designating the metabolism of a tissue or organism as a whole, as opposed to that of its constituent cells. rare. Now disused.
ΚΠ
1909 Med. Times 37 188/2 The action of nitrites is upon tissue as a mass of units, influencing allocentric metabolism or the nutrition of the parenchyma, while iodides affect the cell structure and the idiocentric nutrition or nutrition of the cell substance in and for itself.
1911 Med. Times 39 128/1 Idiocentric nutrition should be the term for cell nutrition, and Allocentric nutrition the term for metabolism of work done affecting the organic whole.
2. Psychology. Concentrating on or interested in external objects in themselves, rather than in regard to their relation or relevance to oneself. Frequently contrasted with autocentric.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > transfer of feelings > turning outwards > [adjective] > focusing on externals
objective1838
extrospective1909
allocentric1916
extraspective1925
1916 Psychoanalytic Rev. 3 221 The family is egocentric. Masculine society—a product of inversion—is allocentric with constantly changing nuclei.
1959 E. G. Schachtel Metamorphosis ix. 220 The allocentric attitude..is one of profound interest in the object, and complete openness and receptivity toward it.
1982 Jrnl. Genetic Psychol. Dec. 203 (heading) Facilitation of children's allocentric placement by reducing task complexity and providing a verbal rule.
2010 New Scientist 13 Nov. 44/2 We think that, traditionally, small-scale societies had this allocentric frame of reference, and switching to an egocentric frame of reference is more recent.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
adj.1909