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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.

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Psychology term of the day

November 25th 2024

gender constancy

gender constancy

a child’s emerging sense of the permanence of being a boy or a girl, an understanding that occurs in a series of stages: gender identity, gender stability, and gender consistency.