ego-ideal

n. in psychoanalytic theory, the part of the ego that is the repository of positive identifications with parental goals and values that the individual genuinely admires and wishes to emulate, such as integrity and loyalty, and that acts as a model of how he or she wishes to be. As new identifications are incorporated in later life, the ego-ideal may develop and change. In his later theorizing, Sigmund Freud incorporated the ego-ideal into the concept of the superego. Also called self-ideal.

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Psychology term of the day

December 19th 2024

Marxism

n. a philosophical position and economic theory drawn directly or indirectly from the works of Karl Marx. Although there is much debate about the true nature of Marxism, there is general agreement that it emphasizes the role of economics (control of the means of production) in subtly determining other social institutions, the importance of labor as the foundation of all economies, the failings of capitalism as an economic system, and a utopian vision of social equality. Marxism has spawned, or been appropriated by, a number of social revolutionary and communitarian movements, including communism. See also class theory; dialectical materialism. —Marxist adj., n.