English

Noun

reality principle ‎(uncountable)

1. (psychology, psychoanalysis, Freudianism, often hyphenated when used attributively) The mental mechanism which guides a person, as he or she matures, in adapting to and coping with the real, external world, by suppressing or deferring the childish gratification-seeking desires of the id.
   • 1983 Aug. 14, Harvey D. Shapiro, "Personal Finance: Summer Jobs—A Lesson in Economics I," New York Times (retrieved 22 July 2015):

     "What you're really talking about is the concept of postponed gratification," Dr. New says. "Freud said that one of the major ways to look at development is the task of the individual to subordinate the pleasure principle to the reality principle and that is a slow process."

   • 1999 Nov. 22, Richard Schickel, "Cinema: Travels with Mommy," Time (retrieved 22 July 2015):

     A flaky mom, restless with unrealized dreams. A wise child, stubbornly asserting the reality principle. . . . It is one of feminism's Ur-legends, the stuff of countless contemporary novels and films.

   • 2011 Jan. 16, Jonathan Romney, "Blue Valentine" (film review), Independent (UK) (retrieved 22 July 2015):

     At first, we're likely to warm to Dean's exuberance and take against the apparently entrenched sourness of Cindy, who seems a slave to the reality principle; yet she is the only one of the pair who's remotely facing up to life's routine demands.

See also

• pleasure principle