pain-pleasure principle

pain-plea·sure prin·ci·ple

a psychoanalytic concept that, in human psychic functioning, the person tends to seek pleasure and avoid pain; a term borrowed by experimental psychology to denote the same tendency of an animal in a learning situation.

Synonym(s): pleasure principle

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pain-plea·sure prin·ci·ple

(pān-ple'zhŭr prin'si-pĕl)

psychoanalysis The concept that one tends to seek pleasure and avoid pain; a term borrowed by experimental psychology to denote the same tendency of an animal in a learning situation.
Synonym(s): pleasure principle.

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012