pleasure principle

noun, Psychoanalysis
1.
an automatic mental drive or instinct seeking to avoid pain and to obtain pleasure.
Origin
1910-15
Examples from the web for pleasure principle
  • Opinions on degrees of tennis greatness are necessarily subjective, and mine rests on the pleasure principle.
British Dictionary definitions for pleasure principle

pleasure principle

noun
1.
(psychoanal) the idea that psychological processes and actions are governed by the gratification of needs. It is seen as the governing process of the id, whereas the reality principle is the governing process of the ego See also hedonism
pleasure principle in Medicine

pleasure principle pleas·ure principle (plězh'ər)
n.
In psychoanalysis, the tendency or drive to achieve pleasure and avoid pain as the chief motivating force in behavior. Also called pain-pleasure principle.

pleasure principle in Culture

pleasure principle definition


In psychoanalysis, the demand that an instinctive need (usually sexual or aggressive) be gratified, regardless of the social or practical consequences. Sigmund Freud held that the id was dominated totally by the pleasure principle, but that, with the development of the ego and superego, individuals become aware of the demands of social reality (the reality principle), and thereby learn to temper and regulate their quest for pleasure.