REALITY PRINCIPLE

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reality principle mean? 

• REALITY PRINCIPLE (noun)
  The noun REALITY PRINCIPLE has 1 sense:

1. (psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the ego; the principle that as a child grows it becomes aware of the real environment and the need to accommodate to it

  Familiarity information: REALITY PRINCIPLE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REALITY PRINCIPLE (noun)

Meaning:

(psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the ego; the principle that as a child grows it becomes aware of the real environment and the need to accommodate to it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("reality principle" is a kind of...):

principle (a basic truth or law or assumption)

Domain category:

analysis; depth psychology; psychoanalysis (a set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders; based on the theories of Sigmund Freud)

Antonym:

pleasure principle ((psychoanalysis) the governing principle of the id; the principle that an infant seeks gratification and fails to distinguish fantasy from reality)