conscience

n. an individual’s sense of right and wrong or of transgression against moral values. In psychoanalysis, conscience is the superego, or ethical component of personality, which acts as judge and critic of one’s actions and attitudes. More recent biological approaches suggest that the capacity of conscience may be neurologically based, whereas psychosocial approaches emphasize the role of learning in the development of conscience and its influence in the formation of groups and societies. See also Kohlberg’s theory of moral development; Piagetian theory.

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Psychology term of the day

May 5th 2024

structural commitment

in U.S. sociologist Michael P. Johnson’s tripartite model of marital commitment, a form of commitment in which a person feels tied to a relationship because of external factors. For example, it is often engendered by the anticipated financial cost or lost social or family connections that would result from ending a relationship. It often leads people to remain in dissatisfying relationships. Also called constraint commitment. Compare moral commitment; personal commitment.