body ideal

the body type promoted within a culture and its media as most attractive or most appropriate to a person’s age, gender, and race. This is variously internalized, imposed, and resisted by individuals and groups.

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Psychology term of the day

December 26th 2024

false self

in the object relations theory of British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott (1896–1971), the self that develops as a defense against impingements and in adaptation to the environment. This contrasts with the true self, which develops in an environment that adapts to the infant and allows him or her to discover and express true impulses.