Meanings
- human sciencesThe 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.
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.
1999 November 22, Richard Schickel, “Cinema: Travels with Mommy”, in Time, retrieved 22 Jul 20152 more examples
"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."
1983 August 14, Harvey D. Shapiro, “Personal Finance: Summer Jobs—A Lesson in Economics I”, in New York Times, retrieved 22 Jul 2015At 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.
2011 Jan. 16, Jonathan Romney, "Blue Valentine" (film review), Independent (UK) (retrieved 22 July 2015)
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(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
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 現實原則 /现实原则
- 現實原則 /现实原则 (xiànshí yuánzé)mechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
Finnish todellisuusperiaate, realiteettiperiaate
- todellisuusperiaatemechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
- realiteettiperiaatemechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
French principe de réalité
- principe de réalitémechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
German Realitätsprinzip
- Realitätsprinzipmechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
Hungarian valóságelv
- valóságelvmechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
Italian principio di realtà
- principio di realtàmechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
Japanese 現実原則
- 現実原則mechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
Portuguese princípio de realidade
- princípio de realidademechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
Turkish gerçeklik ilkesi
- gerçeklik ilkesimechanism which guides a person in coping with the real world
Cite this entry
reality principle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reality%20principle
“reality principle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reality%20principle. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reality principle,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reality%20principle.
Source: reality principle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.