with regard to psychoanalytic theory, an ambition whose objective is the lessening of psychical stress to the smallest potential degree, which is, death. It is initially directed inward as a self-destructive propensity and it then directed outward in the shape of aggressive intuitions.
DEATH INSTINCT: "The idea of death instinct was initially proposed by Sigmund Freud in his own penned book titled Beyond the Pleasure Principle."
Cite this page: N., Pam M.S., "DEATH INSTINCT," in PsychologyDictionary.org, April 7, 2013, https://psychologydictionary.org/death-instinct/ (accessed March 2, 2021).
