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ego boundary

1. the concept that individuals are able to distinguish between self and not-self. Someone who is said to lack clear ego boundaries blurs the distinction between himself or herself and others by identifying with them too easily and too much.

2. in psychoanalysis, the boundary between the ego and the id (the internal boundary) or between the ego and external reality (the external boundary).

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Psychology term of the day

February 20th 2025

principle of constancy

principle of constancy

in classical psychoanalytic theory, the idea that all mental processes tend toward a state of equilibrium and the stability of the inorganic state. Also called constancy law; law of constancy. See also death instinct; nirvana principle.