Dependency is encouraged. Individualism is punished. In the extreme, a rigidly centrifugal system trusts outsiders more than their own family members, dependency is perceived as weakness and so expressions of love and caring are repressed, while anger and even hostility are accepted modes of relating. There is a tendency to expel children before they reach adulthood, or for children to leave home prematurely. Independence is encouraged and precipitous, while dependency needs are sought elsewhere outside of the family.
Centripetal force relates to warmth in a family and centrifugal relates to freedom or autonomy.
In a positive light, we need an integration of the polarities of being connected and being free in order to grow into a solid and satisfying sense of who we are. In healthy families, there is an adjustment over time to include the dependency needs of its' growing members, and to encourage the development of autonomy of the individual as she or he leaves home. In healthy families, there is also give and take. No one member of a family is overly compromised by the needs of the others consistently. The atmosphere of the family is negatively influenced when other family members' growth comes at the expense of one member repeatedly.