psychocentric
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌsaɪkə(ʊ)ˈsɛntɹɪk/
ipa: /ˌsaɪkoʊˈsɛntɹɪk/
rhymes: -ɛntɹɪk
Forms: form: psychocentrics
Etymology: The adjective is derived from psycho- (prefix meaning ‘relating to the mind or soul’) + -centric (suffix meaning ‘having a specified object at the centre, or as the focus of attention’). The noun is probably derived from the adjective.
Adjective sense 2 (“of a tourist: tending to avoid adventures and risks”) and the noun sense (“tourist who tends to avoid adventures and risks”) were coined by the American travel researcher Stanley C. Plog in a paper presented to the Southern California Chapter of the Travel Research Association on 10 October 1972, which was later published in February 1974: see the quotation.
Senses: examples: text: [A] non-flyer was likely to experience many of these same problems which often resulted in very severely restricted life styles. Basically, we can see that this is a self inhibited, nervous, and non-adventuresome type of person. We call this individual the Psychocentric, from "psyche" meaning "self," and "centric" meaning the centering of one's thoughts or concerns on the small problem areas of one's life.
ref: 1974 February, Stanley C. Plog, “Why Destination Areas Rise and Fall in Popularity”, in Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, volume 14, number 4, Ithaca, N.Y.: School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 55, column 2:
text: Currently, given the high level of visibility ski touring is experiencing, peer influence becomes more of a factor as participants are drawn from the marginally interested population and the "psychocentrics" or followers.
ref: 1980, Timothy B. Knopp, G. Ballman, L. C. Merriam, “The Dynamics of Recreation Participation: Ski Touring in Minnesota”, in Proceedings: 1980 National Outdoor Recreation Trends Symposium (USDA Forest Service General Technical Report; NE-57), volume II, Broomall, Pa.: Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, →OCLC, page 77, column 2:
text: According to [Stanley C.] Plog (1991b), psychocentrics tend to prefer a high degree of familiarity in their travel and, as a result, enjoy group or "packaged" tours. In contrast, allocentrics enjoy vacations to exotic and unique destinations, and prefer to travel independently (i.e., not as part of group tours).
ref: 1995, Robert Madrigal, “Personal Values, Traveler Personality Type, and Leisure Travel Style”, in Journal of Leisure Research, volume 27, number 2, Arlington, Va.: National Recreation and Park Association, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2021, page 128:
text: [P]sychocentrics could conceivably vacation in essentially allocentric destinations (with the exception of people with extremely low incomes). For instance, a psychocentric may travel to a remote area under the security of a completely planned, fully escorted tour. In other words, the security provided by travelling with a group of similar tourists, and being escorted at all times, may persuade a psychocentric to travel, say, to Asia.
ref: 1999, K. K. Sharma, “Tourism Psychology and Motivation”, in Tourism and Culture, New Delhi: Prabhat Kumar Sharma for Sarup & Sons, published 2004, →ISBN, page 189:
text: Psychocentrics do not want to try anything new until they are sure of what it is like. The psychocentric waits for friends to do something and will follow whatever is in fashion. Simply put, psychocentrics are at ease only when within their comfort zone, while allocentrics are driven to leave their comfort zone on a regular basis.
ref: [2001, Doris S. Davidoff, Philip G. Davidoff, Donald M. Davidoff, Douglas G. Davidoff, “The Classic Motivation Mistake”, in Parenting the Office, Gretna, New Orleans, La.: Pelican Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 209:
text: [Stanley C.] Plog recognised that personalities change over time, and given time, the psychocentrics may become allocentric in their choice of holiday destination and activity as they gain experience of travel. It has long been accepted that many tourists actually seek novelty from a base of security and familiarity. This enables the psychocentric to enjoy more exotic forms of tourism.
ref: 2020, J. Christopher Holloway, Claire Humphreys, “The Demand for Tourism”, in The Business of Tourism, 11th edition, London; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, part 1 (Defining and Analysing Tourism and Its Impacts), page 75:
text: Another typology of tourists was introduced by [Stanley C.] Plog (1991), who used psychographic analysis to create a continuum of tourist types. While Plog's model is a continuum with indefinite points, he was able to divide tourists into five main groups: psychocentrics, near psychocentrics, midcentrics, near allocentrics, and allocentrics. […] At the one extreme, psychocentrics are those travellers that are not adventurous, and seek amenities and culture similar to their home environment. At the other end of the continuum, an allocentric tourist is very adventurous, seeks and embraces different cultures, local food, and requires only basic tourism infrastructure.
ref: 2020, Peter Robinson, Michael Lück, Stephen L. J. Smith, “Responsible Tourism Management”, in Tourism, 2nd edition, Wallingford, Oxfordshire; Boston, Mass.: CABI, →ISBN, part 5 (Tourism Development), page 366, column 1:
topics: human-sciences
lifestyle
psychology
sciences
tourism
transport
coordinate_terms: allocentric
midcentric
glosses: A tourist who tends to avoid adventures and risks, preferring the familiar.