Oikophobia

Oikophobia
Other namesDomatophobia

Oikophobia (Greek: oîkos, 'house, household' + phóbos, 'fear'; related to domatophobia and ecophobia[1]) is an aversion to a home environment, or an abnormal fear (phobia) of one's home[2] and also a tendency to criticize or reject one's own culture and praise other cultures.[3]

In psychiatry, the term is also more narrowly used to indicate a phobia of the contents of a house: "fear of household appliances, equipment, bathtubs, household chemicals, and other common objects in the home."[4] In contrast, domatophobia specifically refers to the fear of a house itself.[4]

The term has been used in political contexts to refer critically to political ideologies that are held to repudiate one's own culture and laud others. One prominent such usage was by Roger Scruton in his 2004 book England and the Need for Nations.

In 1808, poet and essayist Robert Southey used the word to describe a desire (particularly by the English) to leave home and travel.[5] Southey's usage as a synonym for wanderlust was picked up by other 19th-century writers.

  1. ^ "Ecophobia". Collins Dictionary.
  2. ^ Kahn, Ada (2010). The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties (3rd ed.). p. 552.
  3. ^ "Oikophobia". Macmillan Dictionary.
  4. ^ a b Doctor, Ronald Manual, Ada P. Kahn, and Christine A. Adamec. 2008. The Encyclopedia of Phobias, Fears, and Anxieties (3rd ed.). Infobase Publishing. pp. 281, 286.
  5. ^ Southey, Robert (1808). Letters from England, Volume 1. David Longworth. p. 311. Oikophobia.

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