Impersonalization

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of stripping away individual characteristics can create a sense of detachment and lack of personal connection
2. A method that emphasizes objectivity over individuality often results in diminished emotional ties
3. The act of removing personal or individual qualities from something to make it more objective or detached

Etymology: "Impersonalization" is a straightforward formation: it combines "impersonal," meaning not relating to or involving a particular person, with the suffix "-ization," which turns an adjective into a noun for the process of making something a certain way. Together they describe the act or result of stripping away the personal qualities of something, so that it becomes general or detached. The base word "impersonal" comes from Late Latin "impersonalis," built from the Latin prefix "in-" meaning "not" and "personalis," from "persona." The original Latin "persona" meant a mask worn by an actor, and only later came to mean a person, so an impersonal thing was originally one without a face or individual identity. The suffix "-ization" comes from Greek "-izein," which passed into Latin "-izare" and then into French "-iser," and was adopted into English to form nouns of process. Attaching it to "impersonal" yields a term for the process of making something impersonal, and the word is built entirely from existing English parts rather than from a single borrowed root.