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Reality Principle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In Freudian psychology, behavior during infancy and early childhood is attributed to the Id which obeys only the pleasure principle. As the mind matures, the reality principle is the psychoanalytic concept governed by the ego, describing circumstantial reality compelling a man or a woman to defer (put off) the instant gratification mentality of the id in favor of long-term satisfaction. [edit]

Definition
The reality principle is an expression of the mature mind's ability to avoid ""instant gratification"" in favor of long-term satisfaction. In order to do so, the reality principle strives to satisfy the Id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways through awareness of and adjustment to environmental demands. The manner in which it moderates the pleasure principle and assures satisfaction of instinctual needs is by weighing the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon an impulse. The reality principle forces the mind to consider the risks, requirements and outcomes of various decisions. The ego does not strive to eradicate the urge, but instead it temporarily halts the discharge of the Id's energy until a more suitable time and place. The ego works to ensure that the id's needs are met in ways that are safe, realistic and appropriate. Delay is accomplished through ""secondary process"" An example of the reality principle at work is a person who is dieting chooses not to give into cravings because she knows that satisfying cravings, and thus satisfying the pleasure principle, is short-term empty satisfaction that thwarts the object of the diet. In order to maintain control over the Id, the Ego must come up with realistic plans of action that can satisfy our needs, also known as reality testing. [edit]

History
Psychoanalytic psychologist Sigmund Freud proposed that “an ego thus educated has become ‘reasonable’; it no longer lets itself be governed by the pleasure principle, but obeys the reality principle, which also seeks to obtain pleasure, but pleasure which is assured through taking account of reality, even though it is pleasure postponed and diminished”.[1] Introduced in 1915 at the University of Vienna, Freud began a series of three sets of introduction for psychoanalysis, in which he discussed the Reality Principle. He delivered a total of 28 lectures in total, on the 23rd lecture, Freud began a discussion over the conflict of the realm of Phantasy and the Reality Principle. In this influential lecture, Freud concluded that "there is a path from Phantasy to Reality - the path, that is, art." Cite error: A set of ; see the help page. [edit]

Application of the Reality Principle
The principle applied can be connected to many factors in a human’s life. In terms of aging the reality principle can be correlated to the denial of one’s aging. Specifically with the baby boom generation which have seen an increase in life expectancy. According to Harry R. Moody, a researcher from the Hastings Center Report attributes old age denial in connection with the lack of reality principle in the individual. Moody approaches the idea of “aging” in the United States, specifically with the baby boom; and connects it to Freud’s reality principle. It is the lack of the realty principle in many of the aging adults that attributes what Moody examines as lost hope for these individuals. The medical options that are available only serve to hinder, as many of their results do not improve the longevity of the person. The report examines the book The Denial of Aging: Perpetual Youth, Eternal Life, and Other Dangerous Fantasies, a work that attributes Freud’s theory of Reality Principle in relation to denial. – Getting over the denial of aging CITE François Ladame, a Swiss researcher qualified in the field of Psychoanalysis applies the Reality principle to adolescents. In the research conducted Ladame concluded that the new reality principle takes effect in the wake of puberty and replaces its predecessor. This leads to the “de facto”, which “childhood impotence turning into adult potency”. Ladame emphasized this change in the reality principle from adolescence to adulthood, but also added the influences traumas may have on the reality principle in transitioning. In the new reality Principle the subject must be represented and not merely perceived. - Adolescence and the Repetition Compulsion François Ladame CITE

Reality Principle vs. Pleasure Principle
The reality principle and pleasure principle are two competing concepts established by Freud. The pleasure principle is the ""psychoanalytic concept"" based on the pleasure drive of the Id in which people seek pleasure and avoid suffering in order to satisfy their biological and psychological needs. As people mature, the id's pleasure-seeking is modified by the reality principle. In so far as it succeeds in establishing its dominance as a regulatory principle, the search for satisfaction does not take the most direct routes, but instead makes detours and postpones attainment of its goal according to the conditions imposed by the outside world. These two concepts can be viewed in psychological terms or processes, with the pleasure principle being the primary process that is moderated by the secondary process, or the reality principle. Viewed from the economic standpoint, the reality principle corresponds to a transformation of free energy into bound energy. The ability to control impulses and delay gratification is one of the hallmarks of a mature personality and the result of a thriving reality principle. Throughout childhood, children learn how to control their urges and behave in ways that are socially appropriate. Researchers have found that children who are better at delaying gratification may have better defined egos, because they tend to be more concerned with things such as social appropriateness and responsibility. Most adults have developed the capacity for the reality principle in their ego. They have learned to override the constant and immediate gratification demands of the id. If the reality principle is not in place, a different dynamic develops in the self. The superego steps in, inflicting guilt because a person keeps strictly obeying the pleasure principle. The ego becomes trapped in between the “should” of the id and the “should not” of the superego, and from that standpoint, a person becomes miserable by constantly giving into immediate desires and then constantly feeling that they should not. It is not hard to find examples of adults who live this way, though it should be noted that not all mental health specialists adopt the Freudian model of ego, id, and superego. From a Freudian standpoint, one goal to strengthen the reality principle would be to attain control of the id. To gain maturity and better sense of self, people would be encouraged to gradually develop the reality principle and learn to defer pleasure by making better choices. In a traditional psychoanalytic model, this could be the work of several years, and even with work, most people will sometimes make the choice to achieve instant gratification instead of choosing delayed gratification that still reaps rewards. In order to teach children how to strengthen their reality principle, tales such as "Faithful John" by the Brothers Grimm refers to Freud's "reality principle" and "pleasure principle." The story demonstrates how the servant in "Faithful John" follows the former while his master, the young prince, is in the grips of the latter. Johannes's master, the old king, instructs the servant not to allow the young prince into one locked room in the palace, in which hangs the portrait of a beautiful princess. But the prince noticed that Johannes always passed by one room in the castle, and he insisted on seeing what was in the room--despite the fact that Johannes said there was something in the room that the prince should not see. After seeing the portrait of the princess, the prince fell unconscious to the floor. The princess was in a far kingdom and known to be inaccessible. Knowing that she loved objects of gold, Johannes develops a plan: he has the goldsmiths of the prince's kingdom make all kinds of golden tools and ornamente, and then he and the prince sail to the faraway kingdom; Johannes takes many golden objects to the castle, where the princess sees them and wishes to see more. Loyal Johannes lies to the princess, telling her he is a merchant and his master has many finer objects on his ship, and she must come and see them. Once on the ship, the princess does not even notice that the boat is sailing away. Johannes has helped the prince abduct the princess. The contrast between the rational servant and the irrational young man in love is one established by Freud; Faithful John follows Freud's reality principle; he is concerned with cause and effect and the consequences of his actions, and thus he is pragmatic in his orientation. Appropriately, the faithful servant does indeed know how to woo the princess. In contrast, the young man follows the pleasure principle; he wishes only to satisfy his burning desire to possess the beautiful maiden but does not know how to accomplish this goal. (56) 

See also Deferred gratification Id, ego, and super-ego Ignacio Matte Blanco References ^http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-reality-principle.htm ^http://psychology.about.com/od/rindex/g/def_realityprin.htm ^https://eee.uci.edu/faculty/losh/resources/in-class/freudglossary.html ^ Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures 16.357. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reality_principle&oldid=495070739" Categories: Psychoanalytic terminologyMotivationPsychology stubs This page was last modified on 10 October 2012 at 18:00. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Cite error: There are tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template or a  tag; see the help page.